Of People and Pokemon and other strange things
by whiterabbit90s
Summary: Drew turns into a pokemon; his pokemon turn into people. None of them remember how it happened. Can they figure out how to get things back to normal? Slight MayXDrew and PikachuXBuneary in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, so this is gonna be weird for the first chapter, but bare with me. Everything will be explained. This story takes place when Drew and May have already been in the Hoenn Region for a while, and Drew's team consists of: Roselia, Masquerain, Flygon, Absol, Vaporeon and Quilava. Vaporeon was kind of random, I just needed a friend for Masquerain, but the story behind her is that the person who gave May the Eevee egg actually had two and they gave the other to Drew, so Glaceon and Vaporeon are sisters. Quilava Drew just caught as a Cyndaquil in the Johto region, so whatever…

Anyhoo, I do not own anything but the idea. Without further ado, let the story begin…

"Master Drew?"

"Master Dre-ew?"

"Wake up!"

"He looks funny!"

"Stop it, Vaporeon, that's not nice!"

"Well he does."

"Not you too, Masquerain…"

"All of you, quiet! I think he's waking up…"

"…This is so cool, I'm taller than him now."

"Vaporeon!"

"Sorry."

"Pip…lup…?"

"He's waking up!"

"Quick, hide!"

"This isn't a surprise party, Masquerain!"

"…But it could be."

"Shut up, the pair of you!"

"…piplup?"

"Master Drew? Can you hear me?"

"This is boring."

"Can we go shopping _now_?"

"For the last time, NO!"

"Where would you be without Master Drew, huh you two? Show some respect, will you?"

The clearing slowly came into view as big blue eyes opened. "Piplup?"

_Translation: "Huh?"_

Drew stared up at the six people around him. Closest to him was a pale-skinned girl with long green hair that fell down to the middle of her back and formed three spikes on top of her head. She wore a yellow dress that came to her knees with a sort of light green cape around it and a green shawl around her shoulders with dainty little green shoes covering her tiny feet. Strange…from the way she was holding him, it felt as if he was in her lap, but that couldn't be…

Leaning against a tree nearby was a teenager in white pants and a long white jacket with furry stuff around the collar and a black T-shirt underneath. His hair was short and white, falling so that it covered one of his almost black eyes. A sword in a black case with a black case was hanging from his belt.

Sitting in the tree above him was another teenage boy, this one with green hair pulled back in a pony tail and strange red sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead. His eyes were strangely reddish and he wore a long green cape, a white button up shirt, red gloves, and green pants. The cape looked strangely like wings…

Two girls were sitting on the ground staring at him and giggling while whispering behind their hands to each other every once in a while. The first wore a strapless aqua-blue dress that looked as if it was made of the lightest silk. It flowed down to her knees like water, and in the back it lengthened and fell almost to her feet, like a tail. She wore long dark blue gloves and high dark blue boots. Her hair was the same dark blue and she had two ears that looked just like the frilled on a vaporeon. Her eyes were wide and blue and fun loving. The girl next to her was dressed in a white dress that frilled out at the waist and came down to her knees, and had red lace around the bottom edge. Over the dress she wore a little red sweater and she had a wooden necklace with intricate patterns that looked like a masquerain's antenna and red rain boots that matched her sweater. She had red hair of a slightly lighter sheen that was straight, unlike the other girl's wavy hair, and bangs covered her forehead. Protruding where the girl's ears should be were two things that looked like a masquerain's antenna.

Kneeling on the ground in front of him and looking extremely worried was the youngest of them: a boy with fiery red spiky hair who wore a tight blue suit coat over a tan shirt and dark blue pants.

"Master Drew?" The boy asked anxiously.

Drew first thought was that these were all crazy cosplaying fans that had somehow captured him and wiped his mind, because he didn't remember anything that had happened before this.

"PIPLUP!"

_Translation: "AH!" _

Drew leapt out of the green-haired girl's lap and onto the ground, but he hadn't counted on how short his legs were and he fell flat on his face. Instantly the two girls whispering to each other burst into peals of laughter.

"Master Drew, wait!" cried the green-haired girl behind him. As Drew scrambled to his feet, he saw her reaching for him, her hands seeming to be giant. What _were _these people? Why were they so _big_? Drew started to back away but tripped over a strangely giant acorn. Again he scrambled to his feet and started trying to run. Unfortunately, his running was more of a waddle, and this caused the red-girl and the blue-girl's laughter to increase hugely. Blue-girl fell to her stomach, banging the ground with her fist.

"Master Drew!" The teenage boy with white hair leapt in front of him, his legs somehow carrying him incredibly far, and knelt down to eye level. "Stop! It's still dangerous to go to far into the forest, whatever did this might still be out there!"

That stopped Drew. That and the fact that now three people had called him 'Master Drew'.

"Piplup piplup piplup piplup pip piplup!" Drew exclaimed, gesturing his fin and jumping up and down in indignation.

_Translation: "Somebody had better tell me what's going on here right now or I'm going to send out Absol and have him murder you!" _

This made the two girls laugh even harder, and the faintest of smiles touched the white haired boy's lips.

"Begging your pardon, Master Drew, but I would never kill someone, even for you."

Drew froze in mid tantrum for a few seconds before he started up again. "PIPLUP PIPLUP PIPLUP!"

_Translation: "This isn't funny and you had better tell me what's going on right now or I'll –"_

"Master Drew?" The green-haired girl said gently, sliding up next to the white-haired boy. Something familiar in her eyes made Drew stop. "I suppose you don't remember either. But…we were all training in a cave and then there was a really bright light, and we woke up here. And…we were all human, and you were a Pokémon."

Drew stared at her, beak wide open, one foot still raised into position to stomp on the white-haired boy's foot and one fin still raised high over his head.

"It's true, Master Drew," Said the youngest one sadly, the boy with fiery orange hair, "You're a piplup now." Drew stared at him with beak still hanging open. Then he regained some of his old self and crossed his flippers.

"_I'm going to find a mirror," He said, _and marched off in the general direction he thought a city would be, judging by the factory smoke sailing up above the trees.

"Master Drew, wait, you can't go into the city yet!" Roselia – no, the girl, picked him up. That was too much.

"_Put me down, I'm not a Pokémon, I'm a human and I don't want to be carried!" _Drew cried, flailing his flippers and his feet as hard as he could in an attempt to get down.

"Okay, okay!" The green-haired girl said soothingly, setting him on the ground. "I won't do it again."

"There's a lake a short ways from here," The green-haired boy up in the tree said, speaking for the first time, "You could see yourself in there."

"Yay, a lake!" Blue-girl and red-girl said simultaneously. Together, they leapt up, linked arms, and skipped away. Drew would find that this was a bit of a habit of theirs.

Green-boy leapt down from the tree and strode after them, his cloak billowing out behind him. Drew wondered if this really was his Flygon. He had never imagined that Flygon would be this imposing of a figure, but he was. Drew made a mental note not to get on his bad side.

"Are you sure you don't want a lift?" Offered the boy with white hair, holding out an arm to indicate that Drew could hop on if he wanted to. Drew crossed his arms and glared at him.

"_I'm sure_."

With that, he waddled purposefully off in the direction of the lake. Roselia and Absol exchanged an amused look behind his back. Much as they didn't want to admit it, it was pretty funny watching their very A-type personality master waddle along like that.

Roselia took Quilava's hand and pulled him gently along. "Don't worry, Quilava." She said kindly, "I promise I won't let Vaporeon and Masquerain get water on you again."

Quilava shuddered as if just the memory was enough to evoke fresh horror, but never the less allowed her to lead him towards the lake.

A short while later, when they had reached the lake, citizens of the town (that was several miles away) could have sworn that they heard an anguished cry of: "PIIIIIPLUUUUP!"

_Translation: "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" _

Did I make the right choice turning Drew into a Piplup? My thought process went something like: well, as much as I love him, Drew is pretty arrogant sometimes, so why not a really proud Pokémon like a Piplup? And besides, I could think of nothing funnier than turning him into a Piplup.

Also, did I get the Pokémon's appearances right? I wanted them to look enough like the Pokémon that they came from that they were recognizable, but I also wanted them to be able to easily pass for normal humans. I think I did Absol and Masquerain okay, but I wasn't really sure about Flygon… The others I think are mediocre at least, but you tell me. You're the readers.

This is my first comedy (most of the comedies end up getting deleted before I even post them I hate them so much), so if anyone experienced with comedy could give me some pointers, that would be great.

To sum up my ramblings…please review. 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

Drew sat dejectedly by against a tree. Vaporeon and Masquerain were still playing in the water. Roselia and Absol were whispering together, shooting him concerned looks every once and a while. Flygon was once again sitting up in a tree, staring impassively out over the lake. Quilava was sheltering under some bushes as far away from the lake as he could possibly be without losing sight of the others.

Drew couldn't believe it. His Pokémon becoming humans, well, _that _was fine…it wasn't a big deal, really. But…him becoming a Pokémon? A _Piplup_? Drew could just die of shame. He was fat! _And _he waddled. Plus he couldn't even swim. Or at least, he hadn't been able to as a human…he was afraid to try it as a Piplup, just in case he still couldn't. He didn't want to suffer the humiliation of having Vaporeon or Masquerain rescue him. After all, as a human, at least he could have touched the ground with his feet and walked, but now that he was a Piplup, well, it was a different story altogether! Finally Roselia scooted over to sit next to him, while Absol took a seat next to her.

"Master Drew?" She said hesitantly, "Are you feeling okay?"

Drew sighed. _"You don't have to call me master, you know._" Roselia and Absol exchanged confused looks with each other, then looked back at Drew.

"It's a habit, I couldn't stop now," Roselia admitted, "All Pokémon call you people master…"

"If you've caught them, of course," Absol added.

"Anyway, we thought maybe we could go into town and see if anything is out of place there." Roselia continued, "Maybe we could figure out why this happened."

"Flygon and I already checked around the forest while you were still passed out, and nothing seemed out of place there," Absol said. Drew glanced up at the intimidating figure of Flygon and wondered if he had always been like that.

"So what do you say?" Roselia asked.

"…_we'd have to find you some names," _Drew said_, "You couldn't go around as Pokémon anymore. And what about me?" _

"We figured it all out," Roselia assured him, "We'll split up into three groups. I'll go with you and pose as your trainer. Flygon can go with Masquerain and Vaporeon to make sure they don't get into trouble, and then Absol and Quilava can go together. Sound good?"

"_I suppose_."

Roselia looked at him closely. "Are you sure? I don't want to make you go into a city before you're ready to face other humans."

"_What if we see someone I know?" _

"They won't recognize you, don't worry," Absol assured him hurriedly.

Drew sighed. _"I guess so." _

"Right, then that's that!" Vaporeon said cheerfully, and Drew jumped – he hadn't noticed when the other four Pokémon came over to listen.

"Can we go now, Flygon?" Masquerain said, practically bouncing up and down in excitement, "I want to see what the shops look like!"

"Yeah, me too!" Vaporeon added. Flygon rolled his eyes at Absol, who shrugged.

"You may as well get going," He said, "If we all come into town at the same time it'll attract attention."

"Great!" Vaporeon and Masquerain squealed in unison. They linked arms and skipped off, and Flygon went striding after them, his long legs meaning that he could keep up easily.

"You two go next," Roselia instructed Absol and Quilava, "But go sort of diagonally so you don't get there in the same place, and walk a little slower than them." Absol nodded and walked off in a slightly different direction than the others, but still towards town. Quilava followed him.

When they had faded from sight, Roselia smiled at Drew. "Shall we?"

Drew nodded mutely, and followed her. He wondered just how much he had been missing of his Pokémon's lives when he couldn't understand them. He had always known that Masquerain and Vaporeon were great friends, but he hadn't understood just how naïve and happy they both were, and just how close their friendship was. And if he had ever imagined either of them being human, Drew probably would have switched the rolls of Flygon and Absol. He had always thought that Absol was more withdrawn and introspective, while Flygon would be more of the leader. And had Quilava always been so little and shy? Had Roselia always been sort of the mother of the group? It made him feel kind of bad. Drew had always thought he was a great trainer and nice to his Pokémon, and he had thought that he understood them. But really…well, he hadn't understood them at all.

Was May any better? Drew wondered if that time at the second Grand Festival they had ever entered, when May had gotten angry at him for being mean to Absol, had been an indicator of just how little he did understand his Pokémon. He was sure that May understood hers better. Probably her friends Ash and Brock did, too. The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became. Roselia and all the others would probably die for him if he asked them to, and yet he hardly understood a thing about them. Had the world always seemed this big and confusing? Drew sighed.

Roselia glanced at him with concern. "Are you sure you want to go into town?" She asked, "We don't have to if you don't want to. The others could search it just fine, I'm sure."

"_No, I'm sure," Drew said hurriedly, "I wasn't thinking about that." _

"Oh," Roselia said. She still sounded concerned, but she tactfully didn't press the subject.

"_Roselia…" Drew said reluctantly, "Has Flygon always been this…intimidating?" _

Roselia looked surprised for a moment, then relieved. She laughed slightly. "Is that what's been bothering you? Don't worry about it. He just likes to be left to his own thoughts more than the others, but he's really nice. He really respects you, too. I think seeing you as a Piplup was just –" She broke off, realizing she was about to say something rude about her master's current physique.

"_It's okay," Drew sighed, "I know I'm fat." _

Roselia snickered a little bit. "And you waddle." Drew glared at her.

"_I said I know, you don't have to rub it in," He snapped_. Roselia's face sobered immediately.

"I'm sorry, Master Drew." She said.

"_You know, I meant it when I said you don't have to call me master," Drew said, "As far as I'm concerned, we're friends, and I'm certainly not anyone's master." _

Roselia didn't really know what to say to that, and so they walked on in silence. To tell the truth, she was having doubts of her own. She had always thoughts that trainers would _want _their Pokémon to call them master. Plus it was just unheard of not to – all Pokémon did it. But then again, you were supposed to do whatever your master said to…so if he said not to call him master…did that mean she wasn't allowed to? Except that he hadn't said that she _couldn't_…he just said that she didn't _have to_… Roselia shook her head. This was all so confusing. It was even more confusing when she realized that other Pokémon would be thinking of her as a master now, and thinking of Drew as an equal. It made her a little indignant to think of them calling her master by his first name only, but then she remembered that they would call him Piplup, not Drew. Speaking of Piplup… Roselia glanced sideways at Drew. They were almost to the city now and they were going up a steep hill. Drew was toiling away and moving as fast as he could, but he wasn't making much progress.

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry you, Master Drew?" she asked, all doubts falling away as she fell back into the habit of calling him master, "It would be much easier, really it would."

Too out of breath to say anything, Drew continued silently until he reached the top of the hill, then flopped down onto his back. Waddling was a lot harder than walking, he was realizing. Plus he was so small that while Roselia was walking slowly for her, he was walking as fast as he possibly could. Unfortunately he hadn't counted on how round he now was, and the second he laid down he started to roll down the hill head over heels.

"_AAAHHH!_"

"Master Drew!" Roselia scooped him up instantly to stop him from rolling all the way to the bottom, and, remembering that he had told her not to pick him up, quickly put him down at the top of the hill again. There was a silence, as Roselia wasn't sure what she should do now that Drew hadn't answered her question and since he had already said no once. But he _was _obviously exhausted…and what was more his feet were so small now that they kept on sinking into whatever mud they came across, so his bottom half was covered in mud…in short, he didn't look like he was enjoying himself much.

"Lots of…trainers…carry their Pokémon," She said finally, trying again, "So…so it would help with the disguise if I carried you."

Drew, finally regaining his breath, relented. "Okay." he said wearily.

Roselia wordlessly picked him up and carried him into town. She was worried that anything she said might hurt her master's already shattered dignity and then he would order her to put him down again, which she really didn't want to do. After all, another part of being a Pokémon was to not let your master suffer, if it was at all avoidable, and while it wasn't as if his life was being threatened or anything…like she had thought before, he didn't look like he had been enjoying himself very much.

Drew, meanwhile, was discovering that good part of being a Pokémon. He stared dreamily around at all the shops going by, his poor tiny feet and almost non-existent legs blissfully freed of all weight, thinking that for as long as he was a Pokémon, he was never going to let Roselia put him _down_. He had forgotten all about his human-version of dignity. After all, like Roselia had said, Pokémon were carried around by their trainers _all _the time. So while he was a Pokémon and had an excuse, he might as well enjoy himself.

Or at least, he was enjoying himself, until he realized that May, Ash, Brock and a certain blue-haired girl that he didn't know were coming towards them. Pikachu and Beautifly were riding on their respective trainers' heads, while the blue-haired girl had a Piplup on her head.

"They'll recognize me!" Drew cried, squirming out of Roselia's arms and dashing behind her legs, "Hide me!" He peeked out from behind her ankle at the approaching foursome.

"Oh, what a cute Piplup!" The blue-haired girl cried, "Was it your first Pokémon?"

Roselia stiffened at having her master called 'it', but nevertheless, with acting skills born of her performing days, answered warmly as if it meant nothing to her. "Yeah, he was."

Okay, perhaps she did put the teeniest emphasis on the 'he'.

"Cool, just like you, Dawn," Ash said.

May, meanwhile, was eyeing Roselia strangely. "Have I…seen you before? You look familiar. What's your name?"

"Um…why are you in town?" Roselia diverted.

"Oh, there's a contest coming up!" Dawn said excitedly, "And it's a really famous one, too! I came over here all the way from Sinnoh just to be in it!"

"No, really, what's your name?" May persisted.

"_You don't have to be scared of them, you know_."

Drew, used to focusing on the human side of conversations, dropped and let out an undignified yelp when he realized that Pikachu, Beautifly and Piplup had come up to him. It was Pikachu that had spoken – it was smiling at him.

"_They're nice people, don't worry. They're great masters!" Pikachu said earnestly. _

"_Do…do I know you from somewhere?" Beautifly asked, "You look familiar." _

"_Oh…" Drew said, glancing wildly at Roselia, who had just proclaimed that her name was Rose, and then looked back at Beautifly, "maybe in contests or something…" _

"_Yeah, now that you mention it, he does look kind of familiar," Pikachu said thoughtfully. _

"_Aren't contests great?" Beautifly said happily. Drew was surprised that she seemed so gentle and sweet and naïve. He had expected her to have more of May's fire and stubbornness, but he had seen none of that so far. Beautifly was just…sweet. _

"_Well _I _certainly haven't seen him before," Piplup said, crossing his flippers and looking down his beak at Drew, "He's such a sorry excuse for a Piplup he hardly deserves the name…I would have remembered seeing _him_." _

"_Piplup…" Pikachu began soothingly, but Drew's inner Piplup pride had been awakened. _

"_I'm more of a Piplup than you'll _ever _be!" He said, crossing his flippers and sticking up his beak in true Piplup fashion. _

_That got Piplup going. Fuming with anger, he shot a Bubblebeam at Drew. "Take that!" He cried. _

"_AH!" Drew cried as it hit him right in the face, sending him flying backwards. He had never thought that bubbles could hurt that much, but it _hurt_. _

"Maste – I mean, Piplup!" Roselia cried, starting forwards, but Drew's new Pokémon fighting instincts had been roused.

"_You're going to regret that!" _He cried, raising his flippers above his head. An enormous swirling whirlpool appeared above his head. Everyone screamed as they were caught up in the whirlpool; everyone except Beautifly and Roselia, who managed to leap out of the way in time. No one but Beautifly noticed the superhuman speed with which Roselia did it.

"_That's ENOUGH!"_ Pikachu yelled, and the whirlpool (and Drew) was electrocuted by a powerful thunderbolt.

This whirlpool disappeared and everyone fell on top of Drew, who was lying in a daze from Pikachu's Thunderbolt. He wondered how he could have ever thought that Piplup's Bubblebeam had hurt.

"Ma – I mean, Piplup!" Roselia quite literally flung Brock aside in her desperation to pull Drew out of the pile. She then cradled him in her arms.

"You should try being a bit nicer, Master Drew," She said quietly while the others untangled themselves, "You aren't strong enough to be rude."

Drew weakly raised a flipper and pointed at Piplup. "He…started it." He proclaimed.

"I know," Roselia sighed, "Should…should I take you to a Pokémon Center, or something?"

"_No!" Drew protested, struggling into a sitting position, "I'll be fine, the Thunderbolt just…surprised me, yeah, that's all!"_

Roselia looked at him sadly and opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment Dawn was on her feet, holding her Piplup and glaring at Roselia.

"You should learn to control your Pokémon a bit better!" She snapped, "It messed up my hair with that Whirlpool!"

Roselia bristled. "He's not an _it_! And in case you didn't notice, _your _Piplup started it!"

"Piplup did fire the first attack, Dawn," Brock pointed out, trying to bring the peace, "You should both just chill out."

"_Calm down, Roselia," _Drew muttered so the others couldn't hear him, _"I don't mind…"_

Roselia took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She wasn't going to be mad if Drew thought it was okay, but still, the indignity of it… Noticing that Dawn was still fuming, she decided to change the subject.

"Well, some good did come out of that," She said, smiling at Drew, "Piplup figured out how to attack."

"What?" Ash said disbelievingly, "That was the first time your Piplup has ever attacked? How long have you been together?"

Not noticing Drew's frantic head-shaking, Roselia said: "Quite a while."

Drew suppressed a groan. Roselia, who had never paid attention to human conversations before, didn't know what Ash was going to say next. But Drew thought he had a good idea of what Ash would say…

"Hey, then we can help it out!" Ash said immediately, "I bet if your Piplup was in a real battle with my Pikachu it would figure out how to do attacks better!"

Roselia's face fell as she realized what was happening. "Oh, I don't know…"

"Come on," May said, "it'll be fun. You're a coordinator, aren't you? You'll have to battle sooner or later, and Ash will go easy on you."

Drew and Roselia exchanged helpless glances. "Okay…" Roselia said, and allowed the four humans to lead her to a clearing just outside the town.

She put Drew down, who had mostly recovered from the Thunderbolt, and Pikachu leapt down to face him.

"_Don't worry Piplup," Pikachu assured him, "I'll go easy." _His ready stance proclaimed otherwise.

"Let the battle begin!" Brock said. He was being the judge.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt, but go easy!" Ash ordered instantly. Pikachu obeyed just as instantly and Drew, the memory of the last Thunderbolt still fresh in his mind, ran.

"_AAAHHH!"_ He screamed. Fear lent him new speed and he dashed all over the battle field, dodging Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Roselia muttered, dancing from foot to foot and biting her nails, "What do I do? Oh, Master Drew, what did I get us into…?" Fortunately, no one heard this last bit. Except Pikachu, who had big ears, and was starting to get a little confused about this whole situation.

"Rose, you've got to order Piplup to attack!" May cried, "Hurry, before he gets fried!"

Drew, meanwhile, was trying desperately to do an attack, but he couldn't for the life of him remember how he had done that Whirlpool. Desperately he hoped that if Roselia ordered him to do something, some part of the Pokémon inside him would hear and understand and he would just start automatically doing whatever attack she told him to.

Unfortunately, Roselia was having difficulty of her own.

"Uh, right," She stuttered, "Um…attacks…Piplup's attacks are…" Secretly she was also frightened of ordering her master to do anything, and the fear seemed to be paralyzing her thinking abilities.

"Whirlpool, Bubblebeam and Peck!" Dawn said, coming to the rescue, "Tell it to use one of those!"

"_Just pretend you're me!"_ Drew shrieked, still rocketing around the battle field.

Fortunately, none of the humans could understand him, and Piplup was too busy laughing his head off to hear. Beautifly did hear him, but immediately decided that she must have heard wrong. Pikachu, however, believed what he had heard and started to get suspicious.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Ash ordered.

"_Here he comes!_" Beautifly warned as Pikachu shot towards Drew with blinding speed. Beautifly felt bad for him. Drew barely had time to scream before Pikachu rammed him in the stomach and he went flying backwards. He groaned and tried to sit up.

"Uh…uh, right, Mas – I mean, Piplup, use…Peck!" Roselia said hesitantly.

Unfortunately, Drew did not discover that he could use Peck now that she had told him to. More unfortunately, Ash didn't notice this, and ordered Pikachu to use Thunderbolt in order to counter it.

"_I'm sorry, PIPLUP!" _Pikachu cried as he electrocuted Drew at half his usual power. Pikachu being as strong as he was, half was plenty enough for Drew.

Drew stopped trying to sit up and simply lay there, dazed and exhausted from running, every fiber of his being aching from the attack. Little did he know, his eyes had become big swirlies.

"Piplup is unable to battle – Pikachu is the winner!" Brock proclaimed.

Pikachu turned to Ash. _"I went as easy as I could_," He said sadly.

"It's okay, buddy," Ash said, kneeling down and petting his head, "I know you tried."

Drew felt utterly miserable at that. Could Ash understand his Pokémon? He couldn't have been with Pikachu any longer than Drew had been with Roselia. So why could Ash understand Pikachu and he couldn't understand Roselia? That was his last thought before he blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, so...still no reviews. :( Seriously, guys, if you don't like it then tell me so that I can figure out how to improve. Or if you do, could you just send me something? Just one eensy weensy little review?

I own nothing but the idea.

* * *

Roselia knelt down and lifted the unconscious Drew into her arms. "I'm so sorry," She whispered, broken hearted.

"I'm sorry, Rose," Ash said, "I should've used something weak against water…a fire type, maybe…"

"It's okay," Roselia said, barely audible.

"I'm sure you'll get better," May added sympathetically, putting her arm around Roselia's shoulders.

"Maybe…"

"My Piplup and I could give you a few pointers," Dawn offered, their earlier fight forgotten, "Without battling, of course. Do you think that would help?"

"I guess…" Roselia wanted to cry. She was such a failure. How could she have agreed to this? She didn't know how to battle as the trainer, and Drew didn't know how to battle as a Pokémon. What would the others think?

"We should take Piplup to the Pokémon Center right away," Brock said.

Roselia started to get a little frightened. Drew had specifically told her not to take him to a Pokémon Center, but what else was she supposed to do? Maybe the four humans would know what to do – they were more used to this stuff. "Um…he's…afraid of Pokémon Centers."

That stumped them for a while.

"_How could you be scared of Pokémon Centers?" Beautifly wondered. _Pikachu shook his head in amazement and Piplup snickered.

Roselia wished she was a Pokémon again so that she could teach that stupid Piplup his place once and for all. As it was, she supposed she could just step on him…but then none of them would want to help her.

"Hey, I know!" May said finally, snapping her fingers, "Brock, you could treat him!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Ash said, sounding relieved, "Don't worry, Rose," He added, "Brock's great at that stuff – he's going to become a Pokémon breeder!"

"_He is, trust me!_" Pikachu said, equally as happy. Roselia wondered if Pikachu had guessed what she was, and bit her lip. She pretended she hadn't heard him.

"_She can't understand you, you know_," Beautifly muttered. Pikachu shrugged.

Of course, the humans hadn't noticed this exchange. "I'd be happy to," Brock said, holding out his hands. Roselia handed him Drew, feeling a little uneasy. Drew had told her that she could pick him up, but she was sure he wouldn't like this… But on the other hand, he hadn't told her not to do it, and it was for his own good.

So, Roselia just watched as Brock put Drew down on a log and starting treating him. It seemed like he knew what he was doing, but she was still nervous about it.

"You know Rose," May said, sitting down beside her, "You just have to be calm. If you're worried, then your Pokémon will be too and they won't be able to do attacks very well. Trust me, I had a lot of trouble with that at first."

I know, Roselia thought. "Thanks," She said. Dawn sat down on her other side.

"If your Piplup watches my Piplup perform attacks I'm sure it'll help," She assured Roselia.

"Yeah, probably," Roselia replied. She still hadn't truly forgiven Dawn for calling Drew an it so many times. Besides, she was more interested in the conversation between the three Pokémon off to one side.

"_You know, I think that Piplup is Drew," Pikachu was saying, "And Rose is actually Roselia."_

"_No way!" Piplup said scathingly, "Beautifly, you've told me all about Drew and how good he is, and there is no way that _that _pathetic show was him! And you said Roselia was just as good!" _

"_But think about it! Rose keeps on almost calling him master, and then when they were battling, Piplup said 'Just pretend you're me!'" Pikachu protested, "Doesn't it seem a little weird to you?" _

"_I didn't hear anything," Piplup sniffed._

"_You were laughing too loud to hear," Pikachu pointed out. _

"_You know, I heard that too," Beautifly said hesitantly, "But I thought I was hearing things. I mean…that Piplup is so shy and…and unsure…he's not like Drew at all. And Rose is, too!"_

"_Wouldn't you be kind of freaked out if you turned into a human?" Pikachu asked, "I know I would be. And I don't think Ash would fare any better if he was a Pokémon…think back to when we were all just little babies! I mean, our parents taught us the basic attacks, helped us get over the hardest part. And then most of the attacks we've learned since our masters have worked long and hard with us to perfect them! Drew wouldn't have a clue how to attack."_

"_Yeah, that's true…and I suppose Roselia wouldn't want to order him to," Beautifly admitted, "But why would they lie about it…?" _

"_I knew he was too weird to be a true Piplup," Piplup said. _

"_Hold on a minute!" Beautifly protested, "You're both forgetting the most important thing: How could Drew have become a Pokémon and Roselia become a human?" _

Neither Pikachu nor Piplup had an answer for that, and Roselia relaxed ever so slightly. As long as there was still that to stump them, the Pokémon might not figure out what was going on.

"Your Piplup's going to be fine now," Brock said kindly, "All it needs is rest."

Roselia tried to say thank you, but the words died on her tongue when Brock called Drew an 'it'. She lifted Drew wordlessly off the log.

"Thanks for everyone you guys, but I should really get back to the Pokémon Center," She said, standing up, "Um…someone's…expecting me."

Pikachu and Beautifly exchanged curious glances, and Ash looked as if he was about to say something, so Roselia hurried away before they could ask her who it was.

Once they had gotten into town, Drew started to wake up from the noise. Roselia berated herself for not taking the long way through the woods so he could have slept – Brock had said he needed rest. She wondered if this was what Drew went through every time she or one of the other Pokémon were knocked out, and felt sorry for him.

"_Roselia…?" _

"I'm here," She murmured.

"_Sorry I'm so bad at being a Pokémon," Drew said._

Roselia sighed. "Sorry I'm so bad at being a human."

Drew squirmed into a sitting position in her arms and looked around. _"Where are we going? And how did you get rid of May and the others?" _

"We're headed to the Pokémon Center."

"_What?! But –"_

"Not to get you treated!" Roselia said hurriedly, "Just to get a room. We were supposed to do that earlier. That way we'll be able to stay somewhere where its more protected, instead of just in the woods, in case whatever did this comes back. Absol and I talked it out back when you were unconscious."

"_Oh. You guys are pretty together, huh?" _

"Not really." Roselia said, shrugging it off, "You're much better at this sort of thing, you know. I didn't have a clue how to act with those four."

"_Hey, don't worry," Drew assured her, "I didn't know how to act with Pikachu, Beautifly and Piplup." _

"I hope May and her friends don't try to find us again…" Roselia said worriedly.

"_That sounds like something they would do." _

"Oh no…" Roselia pushed open the door to the Pokémon Center and went inside.

"How can I help you?" Nurse Joy looked up as they walked in.

"I wanted to rent a room," Roselia said, "I'm not sure how long I'll be staying…"

"Name, please?" Nurse Joy said, looking at her computer screen.

"Um…Rose…Hayden." Roselia said, saying the first last name that popped into her head.

"Oh!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, "Two boys came in here just a little while ago and got a room – they said some more people would be coming, and you're on their list. Quil and Alan Hayden?"

Roselia was relieved that Quilava and Absol, who she was sure the two boys had been, had thought to use Drew's last name just like she had.

"Yes, those are my friends. Thank you," She said, "I guess I'll just go up there, then."

"The third room on your right," Nurse Joy told her.

Roselia nodded her thanks and proceeded up the stairs and to the third room on the right, which was locked. She knocked on it, and instantly the hushed voices she could hear inside fell silent. Then the door opened a crack and Quilava's face peaked out of behind it. When he saw it was Roselia and Drew, he gave a sigh of relief and opened it fully.

"Hi, Roselia; Master Drew," He said, shutting the door behind them. Drew decided to just ignore the master part. Obviously, no one was going to listen when he said they didn't have to call him master.

"Absol left to tell Flygon, Masquerain and Vaporeon to come back," Quilava continued, "We ran into them earlier, and they had already finished searching, but they're still gone because Masquerain and Vaporeon dragged Flygon off to go window shopping." He said all this with the speed of one who had been told to say it, and had been repeating it in his head ever since. Drew thought he did look kind of relieved to finally not have to worry about remembering it anymore.

"That's just like them," Roselia said, shaking her head, "The second they turn human they want to start shopping…"

Meanwhile, Drew squirmed out of Roselia's arms and hopped down to sit next to her instead of in her lap.

"Oh, sorry!" Roselia said, "I forgot…"

If Quilava had found it strange that Drew had finally allowed Roselia to carry him, he didn't show it.

"_It's okay_," Drew said, looking around the room. Against the wall opposite them was a bunk bed, and in between the bed they were sitting on and the bunk bed there was a large window overlooking the town. On the other side of the room there was a shelf obviously meant for storing luggage and a door leading to a bathroom.

"_How are we going to pay for this room_?" he wondered aloud. Quilava and Roselia both looked at him blankly.

"You mean you have to pay just to stay somewhere?" Roselia asked finally.

"You have to do it every time you come to a Pokémon Center?" Quilava added, sounding astounded.

"_Yeah…" Drew said, "You have to pay for everything. You two wouldn't know about that, you're not humans. You've probably never had to pay for anything. Although I suppose Pokémon trainers or coordinators get to stay for free…" _

"So we just all pretend we're Pokémon trainers!" Quilava said, happy with the simple solution, "And then we'll get to stay here."

"_With only one Pokémon between all six of you?" Drew demanded. _

"Oh…" Quilava said, looking so put out that Drew immediately felt bad that he had been so short with him.

"_Sorry, Quilava, I didn't mean to snap," He said. _

"It's okay," Quilava said, dismissing it as he got a new idea, "I know! You could pretend to be a different Pokémon every time and we could all be Piplup trainers!"

Drew rolled his eyes.

"No good?" Quilava said, "Well…how about we all just carry poke balls?"

"Yeah!" Roselia said, looking at Drew eagerly, "Wouldn't that work?"

"_Where would we get the money for the poke balls, huh?" Drew asked, "And besides, all Nurse Joy has to do is check for IDs and the whole plan is screwed." _

"IDs?" Roselia said, wrinkling her nose, "Humans are so complicated…"

Before Drew could defend his species, the door opened and Absol walked in, with Masquerain and Vaporeon chattering amongst themselves behind him and Flygon following a little ways behind.

"I gave them the message, just like you said!" Quilava exclaimed, bouncing to his feet. Absol smiled.

"Thanks."

"Listen, guys, we've got a problem…" Roselia began. She then told them all about the problems of money and pretending to be Pokémon trainers. By the time she had finished, not even Vaporeon or Masquerain seemed to have anything left to say.

Finally, Vaporeon broke the silence. "That is a pickle." She said.

"A really big one." Masquerain added. The two of them were sitting on the top bunk with their feet hanging down. Flygon had taken the corner next to the bunk bed and was giving his penetrating stare to the wall opposite him, while Absol was sitting on the edge of the bottom bunk and Quilava sat cross legged at his feet. Drew had never realized how much Quilava looked up to Absol.

"We could ask May and the others," Roselia suggested, "They wanted to help us." Drew froze.

Oh please, please, please don't let her mention anything about today, he thought desperately. He didn't think he could have stood the shame. Roselia must have seen the distress in his eyes, because when Absol asked about it, she simply muttered "Well, we met them and they had a new friends that had a Piplup so she just sort of latched onto me, and, well…you know how Ash and May and Brock are always butting into other people's business…with the best intentions, of course." The other Pokémon, with the exception of Quilava who had never known Ash or Brock and was feeling more than a little confused, nodded in agreement.

Drew shook his head. "_They'd never help us in a scheme like this."_ Instantly the Pokémon burst into protests.

"But we just want to stay here for a while!" Masquerain protested.

"What's so wrong about that?" Vaporeon added.

"It's just not right," Absol agreed.

"It's like you have to pay just to live!" Masquerain said.

"Where are we going to stay?" Quilava murmured, staring at his knees, "If we go into the forest we might be walking right into whatever did this…" He shivered. Roselia instantly knelt down beside him and put her arm protectively around his shoulders. She looked up at Drew.

"Surely Nurse Joy wouldn't throw us out…?" She protested.

Drew blanched. Not Roselia, too. How was he supposed to refuse all of them, when they were all so innocent?

"Drop it!" Flygon said suddenly, turning his head to glare at the other five Pokémon, "He said no and he meant it. Or have you all forgotten that he's your master?"

Roselia looked at the ground, ashamed. Absol fidgeted. Masquerain and Vaporeon looked at each other, then fell silent.

"We're sorry, Master Drew." Quilava muttered finally.

"We'll go with whatever you say," Roselia added earnestly, obviously trying to make up for her part in it. The others nodded, and looked at him hopefully as if he would be able to draw a solution out of thin air.

Drew almost blew up at all of them right there. He didn't want to be their master! He didn't have all the answers! Couldn't he get some help deciding things? Unable to face them when he told them he didn't know, Drew buried his face in his flippers. He heard Masquerain mutter something worriedly to Vaporeon.

That was when the light bulb went off. Drew sat up suddenly.

"_I've got it!" He exclaimed, "May and her friends are too noble to help us, but I know one coordinator who isn't! And if that contest Dawn mentioned is really a big one, and since May is here, I'm sure that _he'll _be here too!" _

The next day, Drew and Roselia left the Pokémon Center in order to find Harley.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you for your reviews to Ryoko the Demon Fox and Vivid Imaginest!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I've been so busy with homework and projects and what-not…but I'm back now, and I'm working on the fifth chapter later tonight, so hopefully you won't be disappointed. Thanks again!

Dragongirl93

* * *

"_There he is!" _Drew whispered, pointing. Roselia peaked out from behind a tree at where Harley was sitting on a rock talking to his Pokémon. It sounded like he was telling them a fairy tale.

"Are you sure about this?" Roselia asked hopefully, "It's not too late to change your mind…"

"_Of course I'm sure," _Drew said_, "Harley might be our only chance. Besides, maybe he'll have seen something strange." _

"Okay…" Roselia said, still sounding worried, and stepped out into the open. "Um, excuse me…sir?"

Harley and his Pokémon looked at them. Drew saw faint recognition in Harley's eyes, but he doubted that Harley really had any idea who they actually were.

"Just a minute darlings!" He cooed to his Pokémon, then hopped up and walked over to them. "Well?" He asked in that cheerful, girly voice that Drew hated, "What can I do for you? Did you come to pick up contest tips from the master? Or –" He fluffed up his hair with one hand, "Did you simply want to get tips on fashion?" He winked at them.

Roselia gave Drew a sideways glance, then looked back at Harley. "Um…well…I'm Roselia and…this is Drew." She pointed at Drew, who was starting to think this was a bad idea. "We have a bit of a problem…" She explained what had happened to them so far, and why they wanted his help.

Harley's smile had gotten slowly wider throughout the entire story. When Roselia finished he gave a little bounce and clapped his hands together, "Oh Drew, you're just the cutest little thing!" He cried, and reached for Drew, "You just make me want to squeeze you –"

"_AH!"_ Drew screamed and leapt off of Roselia's shoulder and darted behind her to avoid Harley. He peaked out from around her ankles.

"Oh, and you even sound like a Piplup!" Harley said, sounding absolutely delighted, "That's just so adorable!"

Had he not been blue, Drew would have turned redder than a tomato. As it was, he was shaking with rage and indignation and embarrassment.

"Stop it!" Roselia cried, stepping in front of Harley as he tried to pick Drew up again, "That's enough."

Harley stood back and put his hands on his hips. "Boy, I never thought you would be so bossy, Roselia."

Roselia crossed her arms and glared at him. "Well now you know." She snapped.

Harley stuck his nose up. "Well, if you don't let me pick him up, I'm not helping you."

Roselia clenched her fists. Oh, if only she was a Pokémon again she would blow him away with Solar Beam for all of this…

Drew sighed and stepped out from behind Roselia and took a single step closer to Harley as a way of allowing himself to be picked up.

"Oh, Drew, you're such a darling!" Harley squealed and instantly scooped him up and hugged him. "You're just so cute and fuzzy!" Drew's eyes were getting bigger and bigger as Harley's grip tightened and he struggled for breath.

"_Let…go…can't…breath!" _He gasped, forgetting that Harley couldn't understand him. Roselia did, however, and instantly snatched him back. Drew gasped for breath.

"Okay, you got to hold him!" She spat, "Happy now? You almost suffocated him!"

"Oh, but I'm sure he loved every minute of it," Harley said, winking at Drew, who glared at him. "And yes, I'll help you. Tell me what I have to do!"

"What does he have to do?" Roselia muttered to Drew.

"_Pretend to get a room at the Pokémon Center so we can stay there for free," _Drew said, "_And ask him if he's seen anything weird lately. You know – something that might have caused this."_

"Right," Roselia said, "You need to pretend to get a room at the Pokémon Center, because we're worried about just staying in the forest after… Anyway, yeah, because you get in free and we don't. And have you seen anything weird lately?"

"Well, I suppose I could get you a room," Harley said, "And no, I haven't seen anything weird. Well…I did see a bright flash of light when I was on my way here, but it was kind of far from me and nothing happened."

"Did you at least investigate the spot it appeared?" Roselia asked exasperatedly.

Harley smiled sweetly. "Nope."

"Harley? What's going on?" Solidad was coming towards them.

Drew wished he could sink into the ground. Roselia fixed Harley with a threatening stare.

"Oh, just making new friends!" Harley cooed.

"So who's this?" Solidad asked, smiling at Roselia.

"Um…Rose," Roselia said.

"Rose…?" Solidad repeated, indicating that Roselia should give her a last name.

"Rose Hayd –" Roselia began, but stopped when Drew elbowed her with a flipper. "I – I mean…Smith?"

Solidad stared at her. "Rose Hayd-Smith?"

"Yeah, that's right," Roselia said weakly.

"O-kay," Solidad said slowly, glancing questioningly at Harley, who shrugged and smiled back. "So are you entering the contest?"

"Um…yes?" Roselia suggested, looking at Drew.

Solidad's eyes narrowed. Something was going on here and it looked like Harley was in on it, too. No matter…she'd get it out of him later. "Are you worried how your Pokémon will do?"

"Yeah, that's right." Roselia said quickly. Harley's Pokémon snickered.

"_You've got to get rid of her somehow_," Drew hissed, _"She suspects something!"_

"Well…I guess I'll leave you two to it," Solidad said, smiling at them, "Good luck in the contest, Rose." She walked away.

The second she was out of sight, Roselia rounded on Harley. "You better not tell her anything!" She growled.

"Man, you really are bossy," Harley said, once again putting his hands on his hips, "Loosen up, Roselia! I guess the Pokémon gets it from the trainer…"

"_I'm not bossy!"_ Drew protested, glaring at him.

"What's that?" Harley said sweetly, cupping his hand around his ear, "I couldn't understand you, Drew."

Drew's flippers curled into fists and he glared at Harley. _"Just wait till I'm a human again…" _

"Listen, you said you'd help us!" Roselia pleaded, "Can you just come on?"

"Alright, alright, don't get pushy," Harley said, waving a hand, "Come on back, my darlings!" He returned his Pokémon.

"Right, let's go," He said cheerfully, and strutted off with his hips moving back and forth. Roselia followed, still carrying Drew.

Little did they know that Solidad had watched the entire exchange.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks so much to That KJ Kid and BelieveInMagicAlways for your reviews! I hope you like this much chapter as those previously submitted.

* * *

After Harley had gotten them a room to stay at, Roselia and Absol (after being told to do so by Drew) questioned Harley more about the flash of light he had seen. They had then asked him to show them where it had happened.

All six of the Pokémon had come, because none of them but Quilava had wanted to stay in the Pokémon Center, and Quilava didn't want to be left alone. So now they trekked through the woods, following Harley. Roselia was in front with Drew sitting on her shoulder. Absol was behind her with Quilava just inches behind him, glancing nervously around as if he expected a monster to leap out at him any second. Masquerain and Vaporeon were next, arms linked and practically bouncing in their excitement. Flygon brought up the rear.

"Almost there," Harley said, cheerfully glancing back at them over his shoulder.

"Hey Quilava," Vaporeon said as she and Masquerain caught up to Quilava, "What do you think would happen if you evolved while you're a human?"

"Um…" Quilava wrung his hands nervously, "I don't know…"

"This is hardly the place for that, you know," Absol said disapprovingly.

"No, really!" Masquerain persisted, eyes wide with curiosity, "Aren't you at all curious? Do you think he'd get bigger?"

"And older?" Vaporeon added.

Quilava gave an indecipherable whimper and drew a bit closer to Absol. No doubt he wasn't curious about what would happen at all. Drew privately thought the chances of him evolving while he was human were next to zero, anyways.

"Leave him alone, you two," Roselia said firmly, "It's got nothing to do with anything."

"Hey!" Masquerain exclaimed, "I've just thought, Roselia, _you _could evolve, too!"

"Do you think your clothes would change?" Vaporeon asked eagerly.

"I wish I could evolve…" Masquerain said dreamily.

"Enough," Flygon snapped. Vaporeon and Masquerain shot him a mutinous glance, but fell silent.

They walked on in silence for a long time before Harley said enthusiastically, "Here we are!" With a flourish he pointed to a small clearing with a pile of dead logs at the center. The grass was black and dead.

Roselia stared at it in horror. "What happened?" She gasped.

"All the trees are dead!" Vaporeon exclaimed, as she and Masquerain drew level with them. Absol and Flygon were standing on Roselia's other side. Drew glanced sideways at them to see what their reactions were, and realized that Absol's face was tight with anger at the scene of destruction before them. Flygon's expression was as inscrutable as ever. Quilava was the only one that had hung back, afraid to get too close.

"You guys…" He said nervously, "Um, maybe we shouldn't be here…"

"Don't be such a wimp, Quil –" Masquerain started to say, but her words ended in a scream as a blinding flash of light illuminated the clearing.

"Get down!" Someone screamed.

"Don't let go!" Someone else yelled, and Drew recognized Flygon's voice. But who was he talking to?

Roselia jerked backwards suddenly and Drew fell off her shoulder, and from his vantage point on the ground, he saw what looked like a small Pokémon floating in the center of the light. A faint giggling reached his ears, and then, as soon as the light had come, it disappeared.

"Is everyone okay?" Roselia asked shakily. Drew looked up. Flygon had caught Vaporeon, who looked as if she had been being dragged towards the source of the light, and was now holding her behind him and staring at the spot where the light had appeared. Masquerain was huddled at the base of a tree, clinging to Roselia who was beside her, eyes wide with horror. Absol was on the ground too, fingers digging into the dirt. A line in the dirt behind him indicated that he had been dragged across the ground, too.

Quilava was no where to be seen.

"_Where's Quilava_?" Drew asked shakily.

"He was dragged into the light," Flygon said without looking at him, "I tried to save him."

"What do we do now?" Masquerain wailed, burying her face in Roselia's shoulder, "What if he's dead? And the last thing I said to him was that he was a wimp!" She began to cry.

"Don't worry," Roselia said hurriedly, wrapping her arms around her, "I'm sure he'll turn up."

A pile of leaves moved next to Vaporeon and she shrieked and clung closer to Flygon. A hand came out of it and Flygon took a step back. Harley emerged from the pile with a theatrical sigh, spitting out leaves and mud.

"I don't suppose anybody was worried where _I _was," He said grumpily.

Roselia shot him a glare over Masquerain's head, but he was otherwise ignored. Drew stood up.

"_We've got to go find Quilava_," He said, _"And we've got to do it now, before something happens to him." _

"But we don't know where he is," Absol said.

"Exactly! So how are you supposed to find him?" Harley snapped, crossing his arms, "You might as well look for a needle in a haystack."

At this Masquerain began to sob even harder and Roselia glared furiously at Harley. "Shut up!" She exploded.

"Don't listen to him," Flygon said, "Just ignore him."

Drew, meanwhile, was wondering why Harley hadn't turned into a Pokémon when the light had flashed.

"The only two places we've seen the light are here and in the cave we originally saw it," Flygon continued, "So it makes sense to go back to the cave."

"How do we know where the cave is, though?" Absol wondered, "We don't even know which way to go."

"_We were training for the contest in New Bark Town when it happened." _Drew said.

Masquerain looked up suddenly. "I – I remember now!" She cried, "Well, sort of…but I know it was by a waterfall. I…I think Master Drew said it was Tohjo Falls."

"That's right!" Absol said, sounding stunned that she had remembered, "We were in the cave there."

"_Ask Harley where we are now." _Drew told them. Roselia repeated his question.

"Humph!" Harley sniffed, sticking up his nose, "Why should I help you? All you did was ignore me when I could have been extremely hurt or –"

"You're in Elix Forest." Said a new voice, "Outside of Azalea Town." Solidad emerged from the forest.

"What's she doing here?!" Vaporeon squeaked.

"I heard what happened, Drew," Solidad said, looking at him. Drew wished he could have just dropped dead right there rather than face the embarrassment. "I can take you to Tohjo Falls."

"Awesome!" Roselia cried, "That's just what we need!"

"We'll be able to rescue Quilava!" Masquerain added.

"Can we, Master Drew?" Vaporeon begged, "I like her better than that weird guy anyways…"

"Excuse me?!" Harley snapped indignantly, "Weird guy? I helped you!"

"_Of course we can_," Drew said heavily. Why, why did Solidad have to know, too? Harley was bad enough. He was never going to live this down… Hopefully May would never find out.

"Yay!" Vaporeon said.

Solidad smiled. "I'm assuming he said yes to letting me help you, then?"

"Yes," Roselia confirmed, "How soon can we leave?"

"Well…" Solidad hesitated, "I…guess I could skip the contest. In that case we could catch a ferry to Cherrygrove City this afternoon, and from there it wouldn't be too far to New Bark Town."

"Wow, I've never ridden on a ferry," Masquerain said, starting to feel better at the promise of being able to search for Quilava soon.

"Me neither," Vaporeon said, "Master Drew always thought we'd cause trouble if he let us out…"

"_I did not!_" Drew protested indignantly.

"Well it sure _seemed _that way!" Masquerain said, sighing theatrically.

"Stop it, you two," Absol said irritably.

"_Roselia, ask Solidad if anyone else knows about…my condition." _Drew said.

"Solidad, Master Drew wants to know if anyone else knows about his condition." Roselia said. Drew wished his Pokémon could at least stop calling him master when they were around other people. He wished he could tell Solidad himself why they were calling him that…but he didn't want to get Roselia to translate that.

"Not that I know of," Solidad said, shaking her head, "Although it seems that your friend May's Beautifly mentioned something to my Lapras. Lapras is who got me interested in the first place. No other humans, though."

"_Thank goodness…_" Drew sighed.

"Solidad!" Called a frighteningly familiar voice, "Solidad, are you there?" May came dashing into the clearing, followed closely by Ash, Brock and Pikachu.

Drew let out a terrified squeak and hid behind Roselia.

"They changed the time of the contest!" May panted, "It starts in ten minutes! I had to tell you…and I guess Harley, too." She said, looking at Harley.

"Thanks, May," Solidad said, "But I'm not entering anymore."

"You're not?" May asked.

"How come?" Ash added.

"I decided I had some other things to do that were more important," Solidad said, shrugging.

"Hey May," Harley said suddenly, his evil tone making Drew start to worry, "Have you seen your little boyfriend anywhere?"

"Um…you mean Drew?" May said.

"Yep, that's the one," Harley said, innocently smiling at Drew, who wished for the second time that day that he could just die right there. Or, better yet, just murder Harley and be done with it.

"No, I haven't," May said.

"Are you _sure_ you haven't?" Harley asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," May said, starting to get impatient.

Meanwhile, Pikachu tugged on Ash's pants. Ash looked down. "What's up, buddy?" Pikachu pointed at Drew.

"_I think Harley means him_," Pikachu said. Ash looked at Drew, who was trying to make himself as small as possible behind Roselia.

"Pikachu," Ash said, sounding amazed, "Are you trying to tell me that you think that Piplup is Drew?" May, Brock, Harley and Solidad were now all watching the scene unfold with varying expressions of horror, amazement and, in Harley's case, glee.

"_Yeah," _Pikachu said_, "I've suspected it for a few days now._"

Everyone was staring at Drew now. He had to do something! Something…something before they figured it out! May knelt down in front of him.

"Drew?" She gasped, "_Is _that you?"

"_NOOOOO!" _Drew cried, and dashed away.

"Wait!" Roselia cried, and sprinted after him.

Unfortunately for Drew, he tripped a few yards later over an oran berry. Roselia slid to a halt next to him.

"Master Drew, this is ridiculous," She whispered, glancing over her shoulder at May and the others, who were all staring at them, "Why is it such a bad thing if they know?"

"_Are you kidding?!" _Drew hissed_, "It's a terrible thing if they know! Harley's already going to make fun of me forever, and now May probably is too! Look at me, Roselia! I'm the opposite of me! I'm fat! And pudgy! And my voice is really squeaky!" _

Roselia sighed. "Okay, Master Drew, but I still don't think it's that big of a deal."

"Ash! Brock! Is that you? I can't find May anywhere and she needs to –" Dawn broke off as she dashed into the scene.

"You all look like someone just died," She informed them.

"_And I'm _blue_, Roselia, _BLUE!_" _Drew stormed, _"And I have white polka-dots! That is _not _a manly thing to have! And – oh no, it's Dawn's Piplup…" _He had just caught sight of Piplup glaring at him from his position next to Dawn. Drew shot behind Roselia. He had no intention to get stuck in a battle for a second time, no matter how much it hurt his pride.

"_Excuse me?!" _Piplup squeaked, _"Dawn's Piplup?! I am my _own _Piplup, thank you very much, and you had better remember it!" _

Solidad shot Drew a pitying look. "I'm sorry everyone, but I really do have things to do – I'm…going to teach Rose here a bit about coordinating." She indicated Roselia, and motioned for her to come with her. But before they could leave –

"Wait a second, now I understand!" Ash exclaimed, eyes widening as he stared at Roselia, "You aren't Rose – you're _Roselia_! You kept on starting to call Piplup…I mean, Drew…_master _all the time when we were battling! And you look like a Roselia, too!" He glanced at Pikachu uneasily, "Do you call me master, too? Cause it's really not necessary, you know."

"_You don't want me to?" _Pikachu said, looking horror-struck.

"You're kidding, right?" Dawn said, looking from Ash to May to Solidad and back again, "That's not…that Piplup…it _can't _be Drew – Drew _Hayden_ – I thought he was –"

"Human?" Harley said, giving Drew a sweet smile, "Not anymore. Maybe never again. But that's okay – he's way cuter this way."

"_Now you listen, you stupid green man –" _Drew exploded, quivering with rage.

"What? I couldn't understand you, Drew." Harley cooed.

"He may not be human," Flygon said suddenly, taking a menacing step toward Harley, "But I am now. And while I'd prefer my past form in a fight…I'm sure I could manage. Think about that before you insult him again."

Flygon looked so menacing that Harley couldn't even think of anything to say. Instead, he crossed his arms, stuck his nose in the air with a "_humph!"_ and turned his back on them.

There was a slight pause.

"So…all of them – they must be your other Pokémon, right, Drew?" May said, looking utterly astonished. "They do look sort of weird…" She started pointing them each out, "Flygon, Absol, Masquerain, and Vaporeon – right? And Roselia, of course. But…I thought you had a Quilava, too. Did he miss the…magic…somehow? And how did this happen, anyway?"

At the mention of Quilava, Flygon's gaze tightened, Absol stared at his feet, and Masquerain seemed to diminish – Vaporeon put her arm around her and murmured something in her ear.

Drew put a flipper over his face and sighed. _"Fine – go ahead and tell them, Roselia. _All _of it. If any of them have seen or heard anything…well, I'm not going to let my pride get in the way of Quilava's safety." _

Roselia bit her lip. "Okay." She turned to the others. "Yes – this is Drew. And…there are some other things I should tell you, too…"

A/N: Ah, I feel so bad…poor Quilava…but I had to do it. Now the plot is unfolding, and the story should move much faster from now on. R&R please, as always! Also: criticism is welcomed, so long as it's constructive. That's why I do fanfiction – to improve my writing. I try and be sure to edit every chapter before I submit it, but I could use the help. 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Another chapter, and I hope it satisfies you as much as the previous ones! I have to warn you that over the week, I might slow down a little – you know how it is. But I promise to be back with a vengeance next weekend! Thanks to my reviewers, That KJ Kid and Ryoko the Demon Fox! I always appreciate your comments!

* * *

The first thing Quilava felt when he woke up was a throbbing pain in his head. The next thing was how cold the stone floor he was lying on was. The third was someone poking him like they were trying to wake him up.

"_Hello-o! Hellooooo in there! Oh, this is so frustrating… Hey! You! Wake up! No? Maybe I was too harsh. Let's start all over, 'kay? My name is _Mew – _M-E-W –"_

"MEW?!" Quilava's eyes flew open and he sat up so fast that with a resounding crack he smacked his head on a rock protruding above him.

"Ow…" He moaned, collapsing back into his former position (flat on his back) and putting his hands over his face.

"_You're awake!" _Mew cried, sounding thrilled. In a second, Mew shot down to him and attempted to pry his hands away from his face. Quilava was once again struck by how small Pokémon seemed when you were a human – Master Drew had seemed tiny, and so had Pikachu, and now Mew did, too. It was too weird. Plus, he hated having to look down at someone when he talked. He was used to looking up.

Quilava allowed Mew to pull his hands away from his face. In a second, Mew had dropped them by his sides and stuck her face as close to Quilava's as she could get without touching him. Quilava resisted the urge to look away.

"_Aw, your eyes are so pretty," _Mew said.

"Oh…well…I like yours, too," Quilava said awkwardly. He was almost sure his eyes were watering from hitting his head – for a second time, apparently.

"_You're bleeding." _Mew added, _"You hit your head pretty hard." _

"What?" Quilava lifted up the hand that had touched the place he had hit (he had thought he felt something wet when he touched his head before, but he was too scared to look – he hated blood). Sure enough, a syrupy red liquid was clinging to it. _Thank goodness I'm already laying down_, Quilava thought, as a wave of nausea passed over him.

"I think I'm gonna puke," He choked, and started to get up. Mew darted out of his way.

"_Well, don't do it in here – this isn't my place, and I don't want to have to explain the mess. Go outside." _

"Mew," Quilava moaned, "I thought you had…special powers, or something…couldn't you fix my head?"

"_No," _Mew said immediately_, "Take that up with your psychiatrist." _She burst into giggles.

Quilava was so confused he forgot to be nauseas. "Psychia – what?"

"_Man, I had to get the stupid, didn't I?"_ Mew sighed.

"I'm not stupid!" Quilava insisted, "And – hey! It was _you_! You turned Master Drew into a Piplup! You turned me, and Absol and Roselia and everybody into humans! And you made that flash and dragged me here!"

"_Wrong, wrong and right!_" Mew said cheerfully, flipping upside-down and peering at him with a grin. Although, Quilava thought, from this angle it looked more like a frown. But the intention was clear.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"_Wrong to the first two and right with the second." _

"So…you _didn't _turn me into a human? And…and everybody else, and turn Master Drew into a Pokémon?"

"_Nope. Definitely not me. Although I feel obligated to admit to you, it was my suggestion first. I just thought it'd be funny – we'd find the most human human and the most Pokémon Pokémon, and PAH, SWITCHEROO! We'd switch them. But then things got a little out of hand, so…" _Mew shrugged. _"As for the third, yes, it was me that brought you here. And I made that flash – I didn't want you all to know who did it." _

"Who's we?" Quilava asked.

Mew blinked. _"Oops. I did it again." _She turned away for a moment, seeming to be thinking hard. Then she whirled back around with a gigantic grin. _"Let's play a game!" _

"I don't want to play a game!" Quilava said, crossing his arms, "I want to go back to the others and –" He gagged as Mew shoved an apple in his mouth and then burst into laughter.

"_I _got _you!" _

Quilava wrenched the apple out of his teeth (two of which were still sort of like fangs and so had stuck had pretty deep) and winced when it felt like they halfway wrenched them out. "What is this apple made of?" He demanded, putting a hand up to his mouth to make sure all his teeth were still in place.

"_Caramel. I got it from a party. At least, there's caramel in them – the apple itself is made from apple. I've got lots more, do you want some?" _Mew darted away and in a second was back, holding two more apples in each hand. This time Quilava saw the glinting caramel coating covering them.

"No thanks," He said quickly, "One's enough."

"_Suit yourself," _Mew said, and began trying to fit an entire apple into her mouth at one time. Quilava wondered what the protocol was when your companion was trying to shove a whole apple with caramel on it that was probably long past its ideal date. Oh, and the little fact that said companion was _legendary _and supposed to be extremely _powerful _and turned out to just be incredibly ADD.

He decided to keep quiet. While Mew tried to fit the apple that was almost the size of her head into her mouth, he looked around the cave. It was made entirely of rock. One end twisted down and out of sight – Quilava shivered slightly, imagining what the cave depths might hold. From the other end a small stream of light was filtering in through a long crack next to the roof of the cave, where Quilava assumed Mew must get in and out; unless, of course, she just teleported, which seemed more than likely. He could hear the thundering sound of distant water, probably from a waterfall. At the thought of a waterfall, he drew his legs up to his chest and hugged them, staring fearfully at the cave entrance.

What if the water from the waterfall started pooling below, and then got higher and higher and higher until it flooded the cave? Quilava imagined mountains of water crashing into the cave and shrank into an even tighter ball. He would drown – drown! Just imagine! Hundreds of tons of water pouring in, filling the cave up to the top, while he, Quilava, remained trapped underneath, unable to fight the current –

Quilava's panicked contemplations were cut short by a loud gulping noise.

"_HA! I _did _it!" _Mew looked at him, beaming. _"I've been trying to do that ever since I got those apples!" _

Quilava sighed. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me _why _you brought me here? Unless you just wanted me to watch you eat apples."

"_Well, it is nice to have someone to share the accomplishment with." _Mew informed him, _"And as to why I brought you here, I thought that was ridiculously obvious – even someone slow like you should be able to figure that one out." _

Quilava stared at her. "Well…I guess I'm just slow then, cause I haven't got a clue."

Mew frowned and cocked her head. _"I was saving your life." _

A/N: AHA! Cliff-hanger! Sort of. So, the story is picking up – do you like it so far? What do you think of Mew? I hope I got her personality okay. I also know that some people see Mew as a dude, but I've always thought of her as a girl, so…she's a she. As always, review, please!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey, guys! It should be noted, for those of you that didn't read the intro in the beginning – Drew's Vaporeon is May's Galceon's sister. It's mentioned in this chapter, so I don't want any confusion, since that isn't in the TV series. Thanks again to my unfailing reviewer, That KJ Kid – I'm really starting to like you. Of course, I would like more reviews, but I'm updating so fast right now that I'm afraid I may not be giving you guys time to review before I post the next chapter. Sorry! But I'm sure you don't mind. I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as those previous!

* * *

Drew sat on the front of the ship, staring at the water and trying to force himself to do a water type attack. But he couldn't for the life of him remember what it had felt like when he had attacked Piplup. He had thought that the deep, blue waves would inspire him, or something – but so far, nothing. He had also considered asking Vaporeon or Masquerain, but decided it would be too embarrassing. He suspected that his block came from the fact that, ever since the experience on Mirage Island, he hadn't been exactly comfortable around water. Especially large amounts of it.

With a sigh, Drew glanced over his shoulder. Solidad was talking to the guy steering the boat. About a dozen people were milling around on deck, talking and comparing Pokémon and badges. He could hear two of them, a boy and a girl, arguing about who was the better coordinator. _That should be me_, Drew thought.

Why, why, _why_ had he become a Pokémon? What could possibly have happened? And of all the Pokémon he could have turned into, _why did it have to be a Piplup? _Why couldn't he have been something cool? Scary? Generally awesome and powerful? Okay, so maybe since he had never been a Pokémon before, the flash had to turn him into a Pokémon on its first evolve – but there were plenty of first stages that weren't quite so humiliating!

"Come on, Masquerain, let's go! I want to see the ocean again! It's so pretty!"

Drew glanced behind him in time to see Vaporeon and Masquerain dash onto deck. The Pokémon had been below in the room that Solidad had got them, and it didn't look like any of the others had felt like coming out. Drew groaned. Roselia should have known better than to let those two on deck by themselves. He could see the surprise on the two people's faces that were nearest the door to below deck when not a Masquerain, but a girl, emerged after Vaporeon.

"_Darn it_," Drew muttered, and waddled towards them. Masquerain spotted him, and smiled widely, waving.

"Hi, Mast –" She broke off as Vaporeon slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Hi, _Piplup_," Vaporeon said, although more to Masquerain than to Drew.

"Oops, I forgot." Masquerain said cheerfully, once Vaporeon released her, "Thanks, Vaporeon."

Neither of them were keeping their voices down, and people were starting to stare.

"_Shut up, will you?!" _Drew hissed, _"Masquerain, Vaporeon – let me make this very clear: you are _not _Pokémon anymore! You're HUMANS!" _

He heard someone snicker, and thought of how stupid he must look. Oh, well.

"_Now, Masquerain – your name is now…Megan! And Vaporeon, you're Victoria. Understand?" _

"Can I be Vicky, for short?" Vaporeon asked contemplatively.

"_I don't care!" _Drew snarled, _"Just don't call each other Vaporeon or Masquerain anymore, understand?" _

"We're sorry," Masquerain mumbled.

"It looks like the Pokémon is more the master than they are," Drew heard someone mutter.

Masquerain perked up again. "Come on, Vaporeon, let's go over there," She said, pointing to the rail.

"Okay!" The two of them linked arms and skipped away. Drew sighed and returned to his spot on the front of the ship.

"Aw, that Pokémon is so cute…" He heard a girl say.

_Cute. _Drew thought bitterly, _That's what you are now. Not _hot_, like you were before…I WANT MY BODY BACK! _

At least May and the others hadn't come – Solidad had managed to convince them to stay behind by telling them that there was a chance, if they came, that the same thing that had happened to Drew might happen to them. May had been the most reluctant, and so it had taken a bit of time to persuade her, the result of which was that she and Dawn both ended up missing the contest. Drew didn't particularly care much for Dawn, particularly since she was that dumb Piplup's trainer, but he felt bad. After all, she _had _come all the way to Johto just to compete in the contest. He felt worse for May – Solidad told him that Harley had won the contest (he hadn't taken any persuading not to come), and he knew May wasn't going to be very happy about that.

Suddenly the ship rocked to one side as it was hit by a much larger wave than there had been previously. Drew grabbed the rail with his flippers and for a few excruciating seconds, his flippers (which had little to no traction) slipped down the rail and he thought he would fall off. A few people screamed, and Drew heard Vaporeon say, "Wheee!" Then the ship righted itself, just as Drew was beginning to hang by just a few feathers.

"_What was that?" _Drew muttered, glancing over the side of the ship. He thought he saw something big, something _very _big, moving underwater, but it was too deep to make out what it was.

"_Run for your lives, run for your lives, we're all toast!" _The captain's Wingull was screaming as it flew around over the ship.

"_Speak for yourself, bird-brain. I don't see what the problem is." _Drew snapped.

The Wingull landed and fixed him with an angry glare. _"I happen to have a lot more sailing experience than you, young Piplup, and when I say –"_ The Wingull broke off with a screech as the ship rocked again. This time, Drew didn't have time to grab hold of the rail, and he started to fall.

"_NO!" _He cried, and as the Wingull started to take off, he grabbed its feet and felt himself lifted into the air.

"_Get off me!" _Wingull squawked, _"You're slowing me down – ARGH!" _

A third wave, even bigger than the last two, was bearing down on them and the whole ship.

"_Can't you fly any higher, you stupid bird?!" _Drew cried.

"_Can't you swim?!" _Wingull snarled back, _"You're too heavy for me to go any higher –"_

The wave slammed down on the ship, and miraculously Wingull had been high enough to avoid it. Below them, Drew saw the water pouring off the sides of the ship. He felt a moment of relief that Roselia and the others would be okay – the ship looked more durable than he had given it credit for initially.

His relief, however, did not last long.

The enormous head of a red Gyarados broke the surface of the water and rose into the air until it was level with them.

"_AHHHHHH!" _Drew and Wingull screamed at the same time. The Wingull was so terrified, it froze momentarily – and them with a squawk fell sideways towards the dark water below.

"_HOW DARE YOU COME HERE!" _The Gyarados bellowed.

"_I didn't mean –" _At that point, Drew hit the water, and didn't get the chance to say exactly what he didn't mean.

_I can't swim_, Drew thought desperately, _What am I supposed to do? Just flap? Like flying? I don't know how to fly either! _Desperately, he thrashed his flippers back and forth, trying to get above water. Then he realized something: he wasn't drowning. He couldn't exactly breath underwater, but he was having no trouble holding his breath at least.

"_Ha ha!" _Drew exclaimed, although it came out as more of a, _"Blub blub!_" But that didn't matter – because he _wasn't drowning! _Then Wingull, dazed and stunned from hitting the water, floated past him, on its way down.

Drew hesitated momentarily – much as he didn't like the Wingull, he wasn't about to let it drown. He tried to remember seeing Vaporeon swim. In water was the only place where she was at all graceful. He attempted to copy her movements, feeling extremely stupid.

But at that moment, the Gyarados's tail slammed down on him from above, sending him far underwater. Drew squeaked in terror and surprise, swallowed a lot of salt water, and started panicking again. The Wingull was now above him. His throat was burning; now he really felt like he was going to drown. He couldn't stop coughing, but every time he did, more water leaked into his beak.

He had to save Wingull.

Drew decided to just try swimming like he would have when he was human (not that he did that a lot), and discovered that, under different circumstances, it wouldn't have been too difficult. He caught Wingull before the Pokémon sank any further and desperately made for the surface through the churning water. It was a lot harder now that he could only use one flipper. The surface still seemed an awfully long way up. Then the enormous head of the Gyarados appeared in front of him.

"_YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE!" _It thundered. Drew saw the tell-tale signs of a Hyper Beam forming.

"_Wait a second_," He protested, _"I didn't mean to fall in – I'm just – just – just p-passing through – you really don't have to –" _The Gyarados obviously wasn't listening. The Hyper Beam was gaining strength. Out of the corner of his eye, Drew saw a slender, dark shape plunge into the water in a stream-lined dive. The shape started swimming fast in a motion that was almost familiar. Then Drew realized who it was – Vaporeon. She was headed straight for the Gyarados. But she was human – she couldn't possibly think she could win against a Gyarados when she was _human_?

Obviously she did.

As the Hyper Beam was about to be released, Vaporeon swam towards the Gyarados at full speed and slammed right into its eye.

The Gyarados let out a scream so loud it felt like shock waves were going through the water, although whether from fury or pain, Drew couldn't tell. Blood clouded the water. Vaporeon turned to Drew, and motioned frantically for him to get to the surface, and swam towards the Gyarados again. As she turned away from him, Drew realized with horror that Vaporeon could no longer hold her breath under water for very long; she was human now.

The Gyarados wasn't deterred for long. Its tail whipped around and slammed into Vaporeon, sending her far underwater.

_No way she can make it to the surface in time to breath_, Drew thought desperately.

The Gyarados was gathering strength for a Hyper Beam again, but this time it was aiming for Vaporeon, who was floating, stunned, in the water some fifty feet below. All Drew could see of her was a dark shape, being buffeted around by the churning water.

Drew dropped Wingull and swam forwards. He would not let this happen – he would _not_ –

A jet of ice shot through the water and hit the Gyarados dead on, freezing it in its tracks; literally. The Gyarados sank, angry eyes glaring out of its ice cube.

Drew stopped, confused. That hadn't been him. Then May's Wartortle shot past him, seized Vaporeon, and started pulling her to surface. Drew felt a pang of fear as he saw how utterly limp she was, then swam towards the surface as best he was, pushing Wingull up with his head so that he could use both flippers to swim. Now that the water was calm again, it was much easier.

When Drew broke the surface, he saw that one of the sailors had thrown down a rope that Wartortle was clinging to, still holding Vaporeon. Several people, including May, were leaning over the side of the ship, watching them with varying expressions of fear.

"_Come on – get on_," Wartortle said, _"You'll never get up the side of the ship otherwise." _

Drew grabbed the rope as best he could with one flipper, and held onto Wingull with the other.

The second they were over, Masquerain shoved her way through the crowd to Vaporeon's side.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no –" She sobbed, "Speak to me – say something –"

"She's just knocked out, don't worry," Roselia said, appearing beside her, "She'll be okay." She glanced at Drew. "Are _you _okay?"

"_Fine," _Drew muttered. He was annoyed about having to be saved. He also felt horrible about it. Vaporeon was a human now, and he was a water Pokémon. A water Pokémon that couldn't swim and couldn't attack – he was utterly useless. Vaporeon could have died.

"Let's take her below," Absol muttered, and Drew noticed that he had knelt down next to Masquerain, whose face was slick with tears. "Away form all these people…"

"Yeah, good idea," Roselia said, then looked at Drew as Absol picked up Vaporeon and headed for the door. "Coming?"

"_Yes," _Drew said miserably. He was so miserable that he almost ran into May – or rather, her shoe.

He stopped. _"What do you want?" _He demanded, forgetting that she couldn't understand him.

"_You watch your tone," _Hissed an icy voice, and Drew saw Glaceon step out from behind May. Wartortle glanced between them uneasily. _"You're not a human anymore, and while you're just a Pokémon like the rest of us…" _She flexed her claws and let the threat hang between them.

"_Glaceon…_" Wartortle said nervously.

"Drew?" May bent down, so that she could look at him, "I'm sorry I followed you."

"_You followed me?" _Drew said, more out of surprise than really responding to her. Behind May, Glaceon hissed and stretched. She went over to mutter something in Wartortle's ear, who shrugged.

"I was worried – I mean, whatever turned you into a Pokémon must be really powerful, and I worried that…well, sorry." May looked embarrassed.

Drew was unsure whether to be flattered that she thought he was worth following or annoyed that she didn't think he could take care of himself. _Which after this, it looks like you can't_, he thought bitterly.

"So, um…yeah…I guess you should go down and see Vaporeon." May muttered. She was still looked embarrassed. She straightened up. "Come on, you two," She said to Wartortle and Glaceon, who followed her.

Drew watched her go over to Solidad. The two of them started talking, and Solidad glanced at Drew as they did, so he knew they were talking about him.

Sighing, Drew walked slowly (not that he could have walked fast if he wanted to) over to the door to below deck. Fortunately, the door was always kept open, so he didn't have to wonder what to do about the doorknob.

Drew wondered how to sisters could be so opposite. Glaceon's movements were looked…well, like ice – if ice could move. She looked powerful, deadly, efficient. Vaporeon was just a bumbling goof-ball, and she acted just like it. That was another thing to add to his ever-lengthening list of things he didn't notice about his Pokémon when he was a trainer. He wondered if Vaporeon and Glaceon even liked each other. He remember the only time the two had ever fought, in a contest that now felt like life times away – they hadn't seemed at all reluctant. But then, Glaceon didn't seem like the type to be reluctant about any battle.

Drew reached the door to the room where he and the Pokémon were staying and started to reach for the doorknob, when he realized that it was a good three feet above his head. He looked up. Three feet seemed like a much longer distance now than it had when he was human.

Just as Drew was considering throwing all his pride out the window and attempting to reach the doorknob by jumping up and down like a little kid, a voice spoke behind him.

"_I can get that if you want." _

Drew looked around. It was the Wingull from before, awkwardly sitting at the foot of the steps.

"_Oh…sure. Thanks." _Drew said, surprised.

The Wingull flew over to the door, and grabbed on with its beak. "Don't waste your breath. I just don't want to have a debt to such a stuck-up asshole."

Unsure where the logic in repaying someone for saving your life by opening a door, but grateful anyway, Drew walked into the room. Besides, he was slightly happy. That was the first time someone had called him stuck-up _or _an asshole since he had become a Pokémon.

His happiness faded, however, when he got into the room. Vaporeon was awake now, and huddle into the mass of blankets that the Pokémon had taken from the bed and piled in a corner (they found it strange to sleep in a bed, and besides, there was only one) and she was shivering.

"H-h-hi, M-m-master D-Drew," She said, attempting to smile, but her teeth were chattering so badly that she couldn't quite manage it. Drew felt a wave of guilt pass over him.

"_How are you?" _

"B-b-better th-th-than I w-was," Vaporeon chattered.

"Don't talk," Masquerain murmured, who was sitting with her arms wrapped around the bundle of blankets and her head resting on Vaporeon's shoulder.

"Drew, we've got to warm her up," Roselia said, and Drew felt even more alarmed when he realized that even _she _sounded panicked, "What do we do?"

Absol, who was sitting in a corner with his head down, looked up, slightly hopefully.

"_I'll go and–" _Drew stopped, realizing that he couldn't go ask the captain anything, _"Um, Flygon," _He said, since Flygon was the only one that didn't look panicky, _"Come with me so you can translate. I'm going to ask the captain if he has anything." _

Wordlessly, Flygon got up, crossed the room, and opened the door. He held it for Drew, then followed him.

Drew felt a little uneasy – this was the first time he had been alone with Flygon since he was a Pokémon. Why was he so _intimidating_?

_Stop it_, Drew instructed himself furiously, _you weren't scared of him when he was a Pokémon, so why should you be now? _

_Because I'm a midget now_, he answered himself immediately, _and a wimp. _

"_Flygon," _He said suddenly, _"Do you wish you were free?" _

Flygon stopped, staring at him. "What?"

Drew turned around to look at him. _"Do you wish you were free? As in, do you not want me as your…master?" _

Flygon opened his mouth to reply, shut it again, and looked at his feet. "This isn't the time to talk about that. Vaporeon needs help."

Drew flinched. _"Right." _He said, and kept going, hopping up the stairs as fast as he could. Now that he had thought of it, though, it did make some sense. Maybe Flygon _didn't _like him. Maybe he hated being in captivity. The thought filled Drew was a mixture of sadness and regret. Maybe if he had actually gotten to know Flygon better from the beginning, he wouldn't be like this. He had always like Flygon, and he had assumed that Flygon liked him, too. Maybe that wasn't the case.

_Well, _Drew resolved_, when I'm human again, I'll tell him that if he wants, he can leave. I won't hold it against him. If that's what he wants…_

The Captain, who was on deck reassuring a crowd of anxious people, was very flustered. He apologized profusely for what had happened to "Victoria" and gave them several extra blankets, permission for them to use his shower (which was much better than the communal ones), and a steaming drink that was supposed to warm her up.

To Drew's relief, it did. And with the help of three more blankets and a shower that sent waves of steam rolling out from under the crack in the door, Vaporeon was fully recovered and back to her usual self by the end of the day.

She and Masquerain stayed in the room (having just discovered a set of brightly colored marbles, which she had been fascinated by in the Captain's room; he felt so horrible, he had told her to take them) with Flygon and Absol, who were sitting on the bed and talking quietly when Drew left with Roselia. He was sitting on her shoulder.

"Rough day," Roselia sighed, "I hope changing back won't be quite this horrible." She was silent for a moment as they got onto deck. It was twilight, and the sun was setting.

"_Turn back, turn back!" _Drew hissed, spotting May sitting with her back against the wall with Beautifly, staring at the sunset. _"I don't want to run into her!" _

Roselia glanced at him in surprise. "I thought you liked May."

"_I do – and that's just like, not as like like a girlfriend, just like like friend –_"

Roselia snorted. "I never said it was anything more."

"_Oh, right." _Drew felt blood rush into his cheeks, and was unusually grateful for the feathers. _"Well, I still don't want to talk to her…right now." _

"I don't think she minds that you're a Piplup, you know." Roselia pointed out mildly, "She might feel sorry for you, but it's not like she think –" At that point, Beautifly glanced around and saw them.

"_Oh, hello!" _She said cheerfully.

"_Damn," _Drew muttered as May turned to see what her Pokémon was looking at.

"Oh!" May said, sounding surprised, "Hi Drew…Roselia. Um…how's Vaporeon?"

"Much better," Roselia said warmly, "Thank Wartortle for his help, okay?"

"I'll do that," May said, smiling. Drew knew exactly what she was thinking – if it had been two trainers talking, they would have thanked each other; but of course Roselia would thank the Pokémon rather than the trainer. _They're probably right about who deserves the thanks most_, Drew thought. Although if it hadn't been for May, Wartortle wouldn't have even been there to help. So maybe the thanks should be distributed equally.

"_Hello, Roselia," _Beautifly said, rising to eye level, _"Pikachu told me it was you, but I didn't believe him at first – but now I can see why. You look sort of the same." _

"Yeah, I knew he would be the one the figure it out," Roselia said, shaking her head, "He's so darn smart."

"Who?" May asked.

"_Pikachu," _Drew said, forgetting, again, that she couldn't understand him.

"Pikachu," Roselia said, looking faintly surprised, as if she had forgotten that May _could _understand her.

"_It must be really confusing, being human," _Beautifly said, tilting her head sympathetically. Roselia nodded vigorously.

"This is kind of weird…" May said, glancing at Drew as if wishing she could talk to him. She probably was. But the way things were now, they couldn't. "How come you can still understand Pokémon, even though you're human now?"

Roselia shrugged. "I don't know. It's never happened to me before."

"And you can understand Pokémon now, right? I saw Glaceon talking to you before." May added to Drew. Drew started to reply out loud, then changed his mind and just nodded.

"Weird…" May muttered.

At that second, there was a blinding flash far out to sea. Roselia jumped.

"What was that?!" She cried. May and Beautifly both whirled around to look.

"What?" May demanded, then let out a little scream as a second flash appeared.

"_It looks just like the one that changed us…" _Drew said slowly, _"And just like the one that made Quilava disappear." _

"But we're in the middle of the ocean, if Quilava is still with whatever's making that, he'll drown –" As if in answer, the second flash ended and Drew realized with horror that he could just barely see two shapes appear in the air where it had been. One of them started to fall, and Drew thought he heard someone scream with terror.

In a second, Roselia had ran up to where the man on duty was, seized his telescope, and aimed it at the flash. She gasped.

"It _is _Quilava! Drew, he's going to drown!"

A/N: Wow, long chapter. My fingers hurt. Did you like it? I hope you did. Tell me what you thought of Glaceon's personality – I didn't have much to go on, since Pokémon's personalities sort of change when they evolve, and Glaceon has only appeared in one or two episodes. Don't get me wrong – I _love _Glaceon, absolutely adore her, but this is just how I always imagined her. And now, this is _really _my last chapter for a little while – I have _got _to get studying for some tests this week…but this story is so addicting! *sob*. Review, please!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Well…I know I said no new chapters for a while, but I couldn't sleep last night. Thank you to all my reviewers, That KJ Kid (again :D), and Vivid Imagist (I didn't get your review until after I had already submitted the last chapter, so I couldn't thank you there. Sorry!) I hope you all like this chapter just as much.

Quilava had a dilemma: on one side of him were deep, dark, scary tunnels, and on the other was a rushing wall of water. He wanted to move away from both of them, but in order to get away from one, he would have had to move towards the other. His solution? Curl arms around stomach, draw knees up to chest, hide face in knees, shut eyes and don't open them for anything, and shiver violently with back to wall.

It wasn't serving to hold back his fear very well.

Quilava had tried, unsuccessfully, to get Mew to tell him what she meant by saving his life. All she had told him was, "Couldn't you feel it behind you?", which only served to freak him out even more. Feel _what _behind him? What was she talking about? Before he could ask her more about it, she had suddenly exclaimed that she had just remembered something, and shot into the dark part of the tunnel.

Loud bangs were still emanating from that part of the cave, and occasionally the echoes would carry Mew's voice back to Quilava, saying things like "_Not there_" or "_Is that – no, that's not it_", or, more frequently, "_OW!"_

A particularly loud bang made Quilava jump. "_AHA! Found you_!" Mew exclaimed. Just as he heard Mew come back into the tunnel, by the sound of it dragging something heavy behind her, three new voices joined the echoes in the tunnel.

"Mew! Come out here this instant!" Said a bossy female voice – it was oddly deep for a female. "You didn't hold up your part of the bargain!"

"The twerps are still twerps!" Said a male voice that was oddly high pitched for a male.

"Lay off it, will you? It's not Mew's fault –" Said a third voice, which was just weird sounding.

"_Come in, come in!" _Mew chimed, with every appearance of pleasure, but Quilava heard her drop the heavy object she had been dragging further back in the cave, as if she had hidden it.

Three footsteps, two heavy like a human's and one light like a small Pokémon's, entered the cave. Quilava considered peaking to see who it was, but he didn't recognize the voices, so it was unlikely he would recognize the people. Besides, even the thought of looking made him nauseas (mist had been coming in through the entrance of the tunnel where the water was).

"You be quiet – we all know you like Mew too much –" Said the first voice.

"Shut up!" Screeched voice-three.

"Excuse me?!" Shrieked voice-one, "SHUT UP?! _You _are telling _me _to shut up?! I'll give you shut up, you little rodent!"

There was a loud smack and a thump.

"I'm not a rodent," Protested voice-three, although the owner of the voice sounded too dazed to really protest.

"_Is there are reason you're here?" _Mew asked.

"Quick; translate!" Said voice-two impatiently, "We haven't got all day!"

"She said is there a reason you're here?" Voice-three said wearily.

"Yes." Voice-one said immediately, taking charge again, "We have recently seen the female-twerp – the one we told you to…modify."

"Modify?" Said voice-three, sounding surprised, "That's a big word!"

There was another smack, and a squeak.

"Anyway," Said voice-one as if nothing had happened, "The point is this: SHE'S STILL HUMAN AND WE'RE PAYING YOU FOR HER NOT TO BE A HUMAN!"

"Hey, don't yell at Mew –" Protested voice-two, but there was a third smack and the voice cut off.

"_You told me to change the first human and their Pokémon that came into the cave," _Mew said, sounding confused, _"I did. But it was a he, not a she." _

Quilava began to get a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized what they were talking about.

Voice-three translated for voices one and two.

"What? Who?" Voice-one demanded, "That's impossible! We heard her talking in the Pokémon Center – she was going to Tohjo Falls – I know it –"

"_But you said the _first _human," _Mew said, _"And that was a boy with green hair, in a purple shirt. He had a Roselia…and a Quilava, of course." _

"What's this?" Said voice-two, more distinct as its owner turned in Quilava's direction, "Who is he? Mew – what is he doing here? I thought we told you this operation was top secret!"

"_Oh, it's okay. This is just Quilava."_

Voice-three translated, and there was a short silence.

"HA!" Voice-one said suddenly, "HAHAHAHA! WE HAVE A HOSTAGE! We don't need to turn the twerps into Pokémon now – we can convince them to do whatever we want –"

"_No, he's not a hostage, he's my friend –" _Mew protested.

"Shut up, you little bug," Said voice-one, "We've put up with you long enough. It's time for you to leave. And it's time for us to finally win something!" There was the sound of hurried footsteps, as if voice-one had run at Mew.

"Watch out!" Voice-three yelled, then screamed, "I WON'T LET YOU DO IIIIT!" There was the sound of slashing claws, and voice-one let out a scream that hurt Quilava's ears. He heard Mew seize the heavy object from before and start dragging it towards him.

"Go, Mew, go!" Voice-three shouted, "Before they can get you!"

Mew dropped the heavy object in front of Quilava, who looked up finally.

"_Don't freak out or anything_," Mew said, "_This is perfectly safe." _Mew raised the heavy object, which Quilava saw was an enormous gun-like thing, with tons of buttons on one side and a trigger on the other. Mew pressed a button.

Quilava caught a glimpse of a man with blue hair trying to grab a Meowth, which was raking the face of a woman with red hair, before the flash came, and then he falling – falling into the roiling dark waves of the ocean.

* * *

"Stay there!" May cried, "We'll get him!"

"_But –" _Drew started to say, but of course May didn't understand him. She through Wartortle's pokeball at the water, and the Pokémon burst out. Without a second's hesitation, May dove in after him.

"Let's go!" She cried, and the two of them shot off.

Then Beautifly was beside Drew. _"Climb on my back – I'll take you." _She said.

"What – no –" Roselia protested, but Drew had already jumped on.

"_Quilava might not trust May," _Beautifly said, _"And they might need help. Get the others, Roselia." _Then she took off after Wartortle and May.

"_You're a much better flier than that Wingull._" Drew said, who would have been relieved had he not been so worried about Quilava.

"_Thanks." _

"_Wait a minute – is that – it can't be – is that _Mew_?!" _Drew cried. He had just spotted the little pink Pokémon, struggling in the air to hold up what looked like an enormous metal gun.

There was no time to worry about that. Quilava had sunk like a stone when he hit the water, on account that he hadn't tried to swim at all, just curled into a ball. May and Wartortle had reached the spot almost directly under Mew.

"Get Quilava!" She cried, "I'll be fine!"

"_Right_," Wartortle nodded, and then streaked under water after Quilava, leaving May to tread water on the surface. Drew noted that she was swimming a lot better than he could.

"_May, we came to help you!" _Beautifly called.

May looked up. "Beautifly – Drew – what are you doing here?"

At that moment, Wartortle erupted from the water, holding onto the struggling Quilava, who was coughing and spitting out salt water.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"_Quit struggling, you idiot, I'm trying to save your life!" _Wartortle panted, struggling to hold him up.

"I've had enough saving, thanks!" Quilava protested.

"_What an odd thing to say." _Beautifly said.

"_Quilava, calm down!" _Drew called, _"It's May's Wartortle!" _

Quilava stopped. "Master Drew?"

"_Oh no!" _Mew cried suddenly, _"Oh, why is it so heavy?!" _She had begun to drop out of the air under the weight of the gun.

"_Here, let me help you with that." _Beautifly flew up to her and took a hold of the other end of the gun, raising up the nozzle.

"_Wait, don't touch that –" _Mew said suddenly, eyes widening in horror, but it was too late. Drew saw one of Beautifly's feet touch a button labeled: _Change_. Instantly, the gun shuddered, then a white light began building at the nozzle.

"_Close your eyes!" _Mew yelled. But Drew had seen something more important: where the gun was pointing.

"_May, look out!" _

The blinding flash then cut off his vision, and he heard a scream from May.

"_May!" _

The flash subsided, and Drew's eyes widened as he saw what was now in place of May. An Eevee was struggling to stay above water, with six pokeballs floating around it (three of them were empty).

"_Master May!" _Wartortle cried, let go of Quilava, and headed over to her. Quilava squeaked and thrashed desperately in the water, trying to keep from going under, but he wasn't having much progress.

"_No, help Quilava!" _Beautifly said quickly, swooping down to the water, _"I'll get her!" _As Wartortle swam back to Quilava, Beautifly picked May up out of the water. May grabbed her pokeballs and held them in a bundle using her two front legs, and climbed awkwardly onto Beautifly, gasping for breath.

"_What – what happened?!" _She cried. Drew almost said something sarcastic, but then he felt bad for her. Plus, anything bad he said about her being a Pokémon would apply to him as well.

"_Um…you're an Eevee now." _Drew said. May's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. _"Don't worry, at least it's better than a Piplup." _May continued to stare at him. _"You can understand me now." _He added, starting to get worried.

"_But…but…_how_?" _May asked. She looked at Mew, who was still straining to hold up the gun. _"Mew? Isn't there…I don't know, a reverse button on that thing?" _

Mew looked at her. _"Well sure, it's just here – oh shoot." _As she had taken one hand off to indicate the button that would change them back, the gun had slipped from her grasp.

With a splash, it fell into the water and sank.

"_Oh no," _May said.

Drew stared at it for a moment. Then he leapt off Beautifly into the water.

"_Drew, wait!" _He heard May call.

"Master Drew!" Quilava cried, but Drew didn't really care. His one hope of getting back to normal had just vanished underwater, and he was going to get it back.

A/N: Is it weird that I think Meowth and Mew are cute together? I just can't help it. I think it's adorable when Meowth falls in love and starts doing good things because of it. Did I get May right? I chose Eevee because of her resilience and adaptability to new situations.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Well, I told you guys this chapter would take a little longer, but it's a long one, so I hope it was worth the wait. I've been working on it in every spare moment, mostly just because I like it, but partly for you guys, too. Thanks as always to my faithful reviewer, That KJ Kid. Your input is always appreciated! And now, since I've been forgetting to put this lately…

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the idea.

Strangely, Drew found that as long as he didn't concentrate so much on not drowning, he could swim just fine. Maybe when he had been so panicked before, the Piplup instincts hadn't been able to kick in – but they were now.

Drew swam easily downwards, almost enjoying it. At least it was quiet underwater. He hadn't even realized how much he had wanted to get away from everyone until he came down here, but now that he thought about it, he hadn't been alone in days, so it wasn't surprising. Plus, the Piplup in him was happy too – it was the first time in days that he had been in water, and whatever his human side thought about water, his Piplup side thought otherwise.

The gun had sunk so deep that by the time Drew spotted it, light was scarce and it was harder to see. His stomach lurched when he did see the gun; it was teetering on the edge of a cliff, about to fall into a seemingly endless abyss. It was obvious that even the slightest change in current would tip its weight and send it down, and Drew had his doubts about being able to carry it back to the surface. If only he could just get it onto more stable ground, then get Wartortle to help…

Drew slowed down as he approached the gun, not wanting to stir up the water too much. Carefully, he came to a stop on the ground behind it. The nozzle was still tilted dangerously downwards. Very cautiously, Drew took the trigger end in both his flippers and pushed it down so that it was flat on the ground. Even that was a struggle, the gun was so heavy. Drew wondered how such a tiny Pokémon as Mew had managed to hold onto it even for as long as she had. Then, very gradually, Drew planted his feet on the moss-covered rocky surface and began to drag the gun backwards. Inch by inch, it started to come.

Suddenly a roar reverberated through the water, and Drew jumped. The gun tilted, and he seized it again and pulled it back desperately.

"_I TOLD YOU," _Roared an all-too-familiar voice, _"NOT TO COME BACK!"_

"_Gyarados!" _Drew squeaked. He stared at the gun. He was sure if he let it go now, it would fall. But if he didn't let it go, he would probably get eaten. Drew glanced behind him. The Gyarados was coming fast. But he couldn't just let go! What if they never found it? What if he was stuck as a Piplup forever? What if –

Drew never got a chance to ask one more 'what if', because at that point the Gyarados unleashed a powerful Water Gun – apparently, the Pokémon had learned to just attack quickly, rather than waiting to use Hyper Beam.

The jet of water hit Drew and the gun head on, and knocked both of them over the edge of the cliff.

"_NO!" _Drew cried, and desperately tried to swim upwards while still holding onto the gun, but he couldn't. The gun was just too heavy. It was dragging him down with it. Also, he had discovered that Piplups couldn't hold their breath infinitely – his chest was starting to burn.

Drew closed his eyes in despair, and let go of the gun. He refused to let himself watch it sink into blackness, and instead swam as fast as he could towards the surface. The Gyarados, which hadn't expected him back so quickly, was taken by surprise when Drew shot out from the abyss and rocketed towards the surface.

Surprise didn't slow it down for long, though – with a roar of rage, the Gyarados swam after him. Being much larger, it was must faster. As Drew burst through the surface of the water, the Gyarados cleared the tops of the waves, too – and raised itself up as high as it could while still remaining in the water.

"_I WARNED YOU ONCE!" _It bellowed, _"NOT AGAIN!" _

"_Beautifly, quick, use your Silverwind!" _May ordered.

"_Right_!" Beautifly said, and immediately began flapping her wings much harder. The jet of silvery wind hit the Gyarados head on, and the dragon Pokémon jerked back in surprise.

"_Wartortle, Ice Beam!" _May yelled.

"_Duck_," Wartortle advised Quilava, before shooting a jet of ice at Gyarados. For a second time, the Gyarados froze solid and sank.

"_Man," _Mew said, sounding amazed, _"What is _his _problem?" _

"_Did you get the gun?" _May asked.

Drew hesitated just long enough that she guessed what the answer was. _"No. The Gyarados came and…I dropped it. It sank way down into this deep canyon. There's no way we'll find it now." _

At that moment, Drew heard someone call his name. He turned in time to see Solidad's Lapras and Pigeot approaching them. Lapras was carrying his Roselia and Absol, and Pigeot was carrying Solidad. Flygon, Vaporeon and Masquerain must have still been on the ship.

"What's going on? Roselia told me that you had found Quilava and that you and May had run off to get him." Solidad said, "Where's May?" She looked from Quilava and Wartortle, to Drew, to Beautifly – and saw May. Her eyes widened. "No way…"

"_Yes way_," May said, sounding miserable.

"_I don't know what you're complaining about – an Eevee isn't that bad." _Drew sniffed.

"Master Drew! What is _Mew _doing here?!" Roselia cried. She had just spotted the small pink Pokémon floating above their heads, watching the scene with slight interest, bordering on amusement. Drew didn't really see what was so funny.

"_I think Quilava should explain that." _He said. 

"Wait," Solidad said, "Before any explanations, let's get back to the ship. That Gyarados won't be an ice berg forever."

* * *

Once they were back at the ship, they snuck on the back deck so that sailor on duty wouldn't see them and ask questions – especially since Mew was with them. Not, of course, that Mew looked like Mew anymore. She had transformed into an Aipom and was bouncing around and around Quilava like some planet in orbit. Quilava didn't look exactly comfortable with this, but he wasn't saying anything.

Solidad thanked her two Pokémon and returned them, after promising to tell them everything that had happened later. Drew wondered if she always would have done this, or if she was doing it now because she had realized how much Pokémon were like them.

They then crept around to the front of the ship and slipped into the staircase that led below deck.

"Absol and the others are waiting for us in our room," Roselia said, "And Glaceon is with them – we can talk there."

"_Oh, that's right!" _May said, _"I forgot she was still out of her pokeball. She's going to be pretty freaked out…" _

Drew didn't say anything. He was a little dismayed to find that Glaceon was out of her pokeball. Dawn's Piplup had been one thing – Glaceon was a whole different story.

Solidad opened the door and went inside. Next went Drew, then Quilava and Mew, then Beautifly and Wartortle, and finally, May.

Inside the room, Wartortle and Beautifly took places on either side of Glaceon, who was sitting against the opposite wall. Flygon was leaning against the wall in the corner, and Vaporeon, Masquerain and Absol sat on the bed. Quilava joined them, and Mew hopped up to sit next to him. Quilava scooted away from her. Drew and May went to the corner where all the blankets and pillows had been piled, and sat there, while Solidad stood next to them (although Drew wasn't sure if it counted as next to, since she must have been at least five feet above them).

Glaceon's eyes widened as she saw May. _"Master May – it can't be – is it –?"_

"_Yes, Glaceon. It's me." _May sighed, unable to look at her. Glaceon was silent for a while. Then she whirled on Drew.

"_This is all your fault!" _She hissed, _"I knew you were trouble –"_

"You watch your tone," Flygon said coldly, stepping forwards.

Glaceon gave a furious hiss, and allowed Wartortle to drag her back over to the wall, where she sat, glaring at Drew.

May glanced at Drew, who was staring at his feet, and decided that he didn't seem much inclined to talk. _"Well," _She said, _"Um…we all know why we're here now, I guess. Sort of. But there are some more things to fill everyone in on – Quilava?" _

Quilava fidgeted uncomfortably staring at his hands. He glanced at Mew, who had started giggling when he was asked to speak, and decided that he wasn't getting any help from her. Everyone was staring at him.

"_Just talk, why don't you?" _Glaceon said irritably.

Absol's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. Quilava took a deep breath, and started to talk. He told them all about his time in the cave, Mew's claim about saving him, the appearance of the three strangers, and finally, the gun. When he had finished, it took everyone a moment to recover.

"So _that _is Mew?" Absol said finally, nodding to the Aipom bouncing up and down on the bed.

"_It sure is!" _Mew said cheerfully, _"I don't know who else it would be but me, since I _am _me, but I suppose it might be possible –"_

"So where's the gun?" Vaporeon interrupted, looking hopefully around the room. Involantarily, May looked at Drew.

"_It's…it sank. It's at the bottom of a really, really, _really _deep canyon in the ocean. So deep you can't see the bottom." _

Roselia stood up, walked over to Solidad, and quietly translated for her, concluding with, "Maybe Lapras could check it? I'm sure she could go deeper than Drew or Wartortle."

"I'll try it." Solidad said, "I'll go now, and hopefully that Gyarados is still an ice berg and it won't attack Lapras…but if it does, I'm sure she can handle it." Several of the Pokémon that had fought Lapras before nodded vigorously. Solidad left the room.

"So Mew," Flygon said, surprising Drew, "There is one more thing that needs to be cleared up. You said you saved Quilava, but you did not tell him what from. So, tell us now. What did you save him from?"

Mew hopped off the bed, transformed into herself in mid-leap, and flipped upside-down to look at him as she answered. _"A guy in an orange suit with really shiny hair. He was going to use Quilava to experiment on." _

Flygon and Absol exchanged glances. "Experiment on how, exactly?" Absol asked.

"_Well," _Mew said, _"He wanted to figure out how much Pokémon was left in Quilava, so that he could get Meowth to perfect the design –"_

"_Meowth?" _May said suddenly, _"Team Rocket's Meowth? _That's _who the three strangers were in the cave! I suspected, but…" _She laughed. _"Who would expect Meowth to fall for Mew?" _

"Aw, that's so cute!" Masquerain squealed, then looked at Mew, who was staring at them with a look of utter amazement. "Are you going to say yes when he asks you out?"

"_Huh?" _

Masquerain and Vaporeon burst into giggles.

"Stop it," Roselia chided, "This isn't the time for that. So, Team Rocket's Meowth is who built this device. So you're working for _Team Rocket_?" She rounded on Mew.

"_Let's not jump to conclusions –" _Beautifly said.

"_There is no other conclusion." _Glaceon hissed.

"_Stop it, both of you!" _May snapped, and Beautifly and Glaceon subsided. May turned to Mew. _"Mew, perhaps you could give us your tale of events? Then we could figure out what to do." _

Mew sighed before answering. _"Well, one day I accidentally dropped one of my apples and it started rolling down a hill, so I had to save it. But by the time I got there, it had already been discovered by Meowth and his two human friends – but I didn't know who they were back then. They were fighting over who got to eat it. Well, it was _my _apple, so I demanded that they give it back. They all turned around and saw me, and they all got these identically strange looks on their faces. Then they started chasing me. I stole back my apple and ran, but Meowth was still on my tail. So I threw the apple at him and knocked him out. Then I took him prisoner, and when he woke up, I told him he had to steal me another apple as payment. _

"_Well, he stole me _tons _of apples. I was so happy that when he started telling me all about his time in Team Rocket, I felt bad that they didn't appreciate his talents, because he really is good at building things. So when he told me about his latest project, a weapon to turn humans into Pokémon and vice versa, and how he couldn't find a power source. I decided to lend him my power, so it would work. And then, as long as we had the power, we decided to really make it cool. I gave it my full capacity – it's a teleporter, too now. It can do other things, too…but I forgot what they are. Anyway, we were sure to write down all the directions, because when Meowth realized how much I liked it, he decided I should get one, and then he would build another one so that his human friends wouldn't be mad anymore. It wasn't a problem; I could power up two of them easily. _

"_But then, when we went back to his humans with the first gun and the plans for the second, the female human was doing something with a Dustox. She told Dustox to use Poison Sting, and one of the needles hit the paper and completely fried it. So there was only one gun. I was really bummed that I wasn't going to get to keep it, and when the humans tried to get it from me, I blasted them. Then, Meowth came up with a solution: since they only needed the gun to turn something called That Female Twerp into a Pokémon, and since they always messed everything up anyway, they would let me do it for them, and in return, I would get to keep the gun. And then we went to Tohjo Falls, they told me to hit the first human that came into the cave, and I did. That's the last I saw of them until they came back when Quilava was there." _

"Alright then," Roselia said after a long silence, "So there was only ever one gun. And hopefully Lapras manages to find it. One more thing, Mew, if you will – what exactly did you do to the man in the orange suit and the weird haircut? Because he definitely wasn't there after the flash."

Mew burst into giggles. _"Well, one thing's for sure – he's not a _man _anymore!" _She lapsed into a second fit of giggling.

Drew and May exchanged looks. _"What exactly did you do?" _Drew asked warily.

"_Let's just say that he's considerably smaller." _Mew snickered, _"And I think his new form fits him quite well." _

"You turned _him _into a Pokémon, too?" Quilava said, horrified.

"Let's save the sympathy until we know who it was," Roselia said, "And you especially. He was going to experiment on you."

"_Which means he knew what Meowth and Mew had done," _Drew said, _"And the only person that could have told him that was Jessie, James or Meowth, since we know that Mew didn't." _

"_Giovani!" _May cried suddenly, _"He's the leader of Team Rocket – of _course _they would have told him! And there's never been a human-Pokémon before, so he would want to experiment on one, to see…I don't know. But he would. It's just like him. Sick and evil and twisted." _

"_I _told _you. He wanted to see how much Pokémon was left, so that he could get Meowth to perfect the machine," _Mew said, _"I'm psychic, remember?" _

"So what did he turn into?"

Mew giggled again. _"He's a Snubbull."_

Before anyone could so much as snicker, the door opened and Solidad walked into the room, looking down. "Drew, May – everyone," She said, "I'm sorry. Lapras couldn't find the gun."

A/N: Oh no! How will they ever turn back?! You'll just have to keep reading. So, you like it? Giovani as a Snubbull? Meowth and Mew? Mew's so adorable. I think I may have to write a fanfic about those two next. But only once I finish this one, of course. Review, please! 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks to my faithful reviewer, That KJ Kid! I hope the story continues to please! Sorry for the time between updates – my teachers seem to be trying to cram in as much as possible between now and Winter Break. I'm swamped with homework for the second weekend in a row, but at least it's the weekend, so updates should come quicker.

The ferry was due to reach Rosewood City in two hours, early in the morning. Currently, it was still dark, and Drew was sitting outside on the deck. He knew he should probably have been asleep, but he just couldn't.

After Solidad and Lapras had failed to get the gun, they had decided that there was only one thing to do: find Meowth and get him to make another gun. Of course, the problem was, there were no more instructions. However, Mew had confidence in him, and it was the only thing they could do. So they were going to Rosewood for nothing, but it wasn't as if they could tell the captain to just turn around.

Drew, however, wasn't thinking about that. He kept thinking about what Glaceon had said: _"This is all your fault!" _It was true. May might have told Glaceon to stop, but it was true what she had said. It _was _Drew's fault that May was stuck as an Eevee, maybe forever. There was no guarantee that Team Rocket would help them. After all, they had no reason to. They had been the ones that wanted May turned into a Pokémon in the first place.

The only reason that Team Rocket had to get Meowth to make another gun was that Giovani was a Pokémon, too. If they could find Giovani and catch him, they could get Meowth to build a gun in order to save Giovani, and then they would simply have to take it from him somehow.

They had already decided that the best way to find Meowth was to look wherever Ash was, and so that meant that once they got to Rosewood City, they would have to turn right back around and head back, and hope that Ash, Brock and Dawn hadn't gone back to Sinnoh by then.

Drew's musings were interrupted by Quilava dashing onto deck.

"Master Drew!" He said, then lowered his voice when Drew shushed him furiously, glancing at the man on duty. "Mew says she can teleport with up to two of us, and take us where we need to go!"

"_Really?"_

"Yeah! I was talking to her about it after everyone had gone to bed."

"_I've got to tell May." _Drew said instantly, _"She and I should go. Quilava, thanks. Tell the others what we're going to do, and you guys can start making your way back to Azalea Town – we'll meet you there." _

"Right." Quilava said, looking determined. Drew realized he had never seen that look in Quilava's eyes before, not when he was a Pokémon, and not when he was human.

"_I'm proud of you, Quilava. If we ever get back to normal, I am definitely putting you in a contest." _

* * *

When Drew and May told Mew where to take them, Drew expected her to take them to Ash, Brock and Dawn – but not to take them right into the middle of their camp.

It was nighttime when they got there, and the trio were camped outside, Dawn in her tent, and Ash and Brock in their sleeping bags. There was a fire in the middle of them, and it was directly above that that Mew teleported.

Now, this was all well and good for Mew – she could float. But Drew and May couldn't; and they fell right into the fire.

"_Mother of –" _Drew yelled.

"_AH! Hot, hot, hot, HOT!" _May shrieked at the same time, and fortunately her scream drowned out the last bit of Drew's exclamation.

"_What's going on…?" _Pikachu mumbled groggily, sitting up.

"Huh?" Brock said.

"_I'M ON FIIIIIRE!" _May screamed, and leapt out of the burning logs. She darted around the camp, trying to put out the fire that had started on her tail.

"_Master May?!" _Pikachu cried, leaping to his feet.

"_Get out of the way –" _Drew yelled, but Pikachu didn't hear him in time. A jet of water burst from Drew, hit Pikachu, hit May, and soaked Ash's sleeping bag.

"AH!" Ash yelled, jumping to his feet, "What – what – Drew?"

"_Thanks," _May gasped.

"_It _is _you!" _Pikachu cried, _"Master May! How did _you _get turned into a Pokémon?!" _

"What's going on?" Dawn asked sleepily, coming out of her tent with Piplup.

"_It's _you_!" _Piplup growled, catching sight of Drew.

"_I attacked?" _Drew said dazedly.

"The fire's out." Brock said.

"_I attacked!" _Drew yelled gleefully, punching his flipper in the air.

"_Master Ash, Master Ash!" _Pikachu cried, freaking out, _"Master May got turned into an Eevee!" _

"It's Mew!" Dawn cried, pointing.

Everyone looked up. Mew was floating above the wet logs that had previously held a fire, watching them all. Seeing that they were all looking, Mew smiled, waved, and said _"Hello!"_

Very forcedly, Brock turned to Drew. "Drew – you _are _Drew, right?" Drew nodded. "What is Mew doing here? And…who's that?" He pointed at May.

Drew sighed. He picked up the smallest twig from the fire, and wrote in the sand: _May. _

"What?!" Ash yelped.

"_I did tell you that, you know._" Pikachu said, a little grumpily.

"And what's Mew doing here?" Brock asked.

Before Drew could think of a way to write down all the events of the past few days in the dirt, two spotlights appeared.

"Is that a voice I hear?" Said an familiar voice.

"_Right on cue," _May commented dryly.

"_Excellent." _Drew said, _"Now we can get on with this. Mew, you've got to talk to Meowth, okay?" _

"_Of course." _Mew said cheerfully.

"_What's _Meowth _got to do with this?" _Pikachu asked.

"It's speaking to me, loud and clear." Said a second voice. Jessie and James leapt into view.

"Floating on the wind!"

"Past the stars!"

"In your – _Mew?!_" Meowth yelped as he leapt into view and caught sight of the small pink Pokémon floating above them. "What are you doing here?! You've got to –"

"Meowth, you messed up our intro!" James said furiously.

"That's fine," Jessie snarled, "They know why we're here –" She pulled a pokeball out of her belt.

"Wait! No!" Meowth cried, grabbing her arm, "You _can't _attack now – what about Mew –?"

"You stupid little –"

"_Stop!" _Mew cried. In a second, Jessie, James, Ash, Brock, Dawn, Pikachu and Piplup all froze in place.

"Huh?" Meowth said, still hanging from Jessie's now-immobile arm.

"_Meowth?" _Mew said, _"I need to ask you a favor." _

"Of course!" Meowth said immediately, dropping to the ground.

"_Can you build another one of those guns for me?" _Mew asked. Meowth's face fell, and his eyes slid past Mew to May and Drew.

"You mean for them?"

"_Well, yes. I want to return them back to normal. Them, and Quilava and his friends. Please, could you? I know you don't have the directions anymore, but you managed fine without direction the first time –"_

"No can do," Meowth said, waving a paw.

"_What?"_

"Ican't build you another one; not because I couldn't remember how, but because I haven't got the parts I need anymore. I used them all up."

"_But when we built the first gun, there were plenty of extra!" _Mew protested.

"Well…"

"_Well what?"_

Meowth sighed. "To tell you the truth, Mew, there were always two guns. After I built the first one, and Jessie and James told Giovani about it, _he _wanted one, too. And I can't just refuse my boss, you know? So I used to spare parts to build another one. And as far as I know, he still has it."

"_But he can't." _

"Of course he does," Meowth said miserably, "And I can't just go up and ask to borrow it. He'd never let me. And it isn't like we can just steal something like that right out from under his nose."

"_But Giovani was turned into a Pokémon, too. A Snubbull. Remember when you came to the cave, and saw Quilava? I saved him from Giovani – but Giovani didn't have the gun with him then. So it must still be in the headquarters." _Mew said.

"_So we can go there!" _May said immediately, _"We'll steal the gun." _

"_And Giovani can stay a Snubbull, for all I care." _Drew muttered.

"Giovani's a Snubbull?!" Meowth yelped.

"_Yep," _Mew said happily, _"So Meowth, what do you say? Can we break into Team Rocket headquarters and steal the gun?" _

Meowth flinched. "Well, Mew…the thing about this gun is that I'm not sure it works quite right. I didn't have the directions, you know? And I also had to use a different power source, since I didn't have you. And…well…I'm not sure what'll happen if you use it."

"_We don't care," _Drew said firmly, _"I'll test it – and if it works, you can use it on everyone else." _

"_That's that!" _Mew said, looking at Meowth expectantly, "_Come on, you're the only one that has any experience with this sort of thing…I mean, I might've stolen the odd apple, but you're way better than me." _

"_That's for sure_," May muttered.

Meowth hesitated, then let out a long sigh. _"Alright." _

For a fraction of a second, Drew felt sorry for him. Meowth was obviously doing this against his better judgment – Drew was sure that if anyone but Mew had asked, he never would have done it. Drew knew how he felt. He remembered how he had managed to use Water Gun just a while ago because May was on fire.

"_Then let's go!" _Mew said, _"It'll be tough, but I'll just have to teleport all three of you along with me. Oh, and don't worry about them –" _She added, seeing May's concerned glance at Ash and the others, _"they'll be back to normal as soon as we leave. Now come on, you guys!" _

A/N: Not too much happened in this chapter, I guess, but at least now they've got a plan. And Drew learned how to attack, just to save May! Aw… And Mew is still clueless. Poor Meowth. Thanks for reading, and please review!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: A million thank yous to my reviewers, That KJ Kid, Ryoko the Demon Fox, and Vivid Imagist! You guys are awesome! Your reviews can't stop these dumb projects, or exam week, but they sure give me inspiration to find time to write at least a little bit every day! And it's always awesome to log into my email and see them. You guys rock! :D

"There it is."

Drew, May and Mew peeked out from behind a tree at the enormous Team Rocket Headquarters.

"_Wow." _May said, _"Meowth, you actually did what you said you would."_

"Yeah," Meowth said, sounding as though it had been against his better judgment. He turned around to face them. "Listen, twerps. I know you two are thinking that it'll be easy, what with Giovani not being there and all – but what you don't get is that Team Rocket is a whole band of thieves! And thieves are not easy to steal from. I speak from experience. And then there's the whole problem that Giovani probably has that gun under the tightest security possible, and we've got no clue where it is! Just how do you think you're going to find it, huh?"

"_That's easy,_" Drew said, waving a flipper, _"You just told us – wherever we see the most high tech security devices and guards, that's the place we go." _

"_Yeah, that's right!" _May said, _"And I'm betting that Giovani didn't tell anyone about the gun, because it's so rare and powerful! They'll just know that they have to guard it. But no one will suspect a couple of Pokémon to be the thieves." _

"But no one will expect two little low-level Pokémon wandering around the Team Rocket Headquarters, either," Meowth said, "You just don't get it, do you? Pokémon like you would be used as practice to make the tough Pokémon tougher. You won't last three seconds in there."

"_Well, then we'll just have to do our best to stay out of everyone's way,_" Drew snapped, _"Stop trying to stop us, because you can't. We're doing this, and we're doing it now. Besides, we're small enough to hide." _

"Plenty of Pokémon are small!" Meowth exploded, "You'll be found by the small Pokémon and then stomped on and squished by the big ones!"

"_Not with me, they won't," _Mew said.

Meowth froze. "Mew, you can't go in there! You're a _legendary _Pokémon! If anyone saw you, it'd be high alert and everyone would be trying to catch you! If you –"

At that second, there was a small flash, and an Aipom stood where Mew had been moments before. _"Not now, they won't!" _Mew trilled, _"Now come on, Meowth, stop being such a bore. We've got to get that gun and that's that!" _

Meowth slapped a paw over his face. "Alright. But we'll have to go in through the drain. You guys follow me, and stick close." Meowth headed out to the building, sticking close to the wall as he walked around it. Mew followed him, and May and Drew came behind her.

"_What if Meowth is right and we get squashed?" _May hissed. _"I want to get that gun, but I don't want to die in the process." _

"_We'll be fine. Like I said, we're small enough to hide. And if anyone asks – any Pokémon ask, I mean – then we just say that we're new here and that we were caught for Giovani. I mean, Eevees are pretty rare, and Piplups are found only in the Sinnoh region, which is way far away from Kanto. I bet most of these Pokémon have never even seen a Piplup before. We'll be fine."_

"_Okay."_

Meowth stopped as he reached the drain. "In we go," He said, "The water's not too deep, but it's disgusting, I warn you. You should all be small enough to slip through the bars." He took a deep breath, and leapt into the drain pipe. There was a splash.

"_Whee!" _Mew jumped in after him.

Drew let May go first, and then jumped down after her. He would never have let her know, but he was having doubts of his own about this plan. But that didn't matter. He _had _to get that gun – for himself, for his Pokémon, and now for May, too.

Drew had a moment's surprise when he was that it was Mudkip that was standing next to Meowth, and not an Aipom, before he realized that Mew mud have decided to transform into a water Pokémon for the drain.

"Let's go," Meowth said, looking absolutely disgusting, even though the water was only up to his knees. "Just keep going straight."

"_Right!" _Mew darted ahead of him and took the lead.

Meowth wondered what he had gotten himself into, and hoped that they didn't meet any of Giovani's Pokémon.

* * *

Ash, Dawn and Brock were scheduled to catch a ferry back to Sinnoh the next morning. Since they were in Johto and no where near Ash's next gym battle or Dawn's next contest, the two had decided to give their Pokémon (and themselves) a break from training. Currently, they were having a picnic lunch on the beach. Most of the Pokémon were milling around where Brock was cooking, waiting for their lunch. Pikachu, however, was sitting on a rock by the shore.

He was wondering what had happened back when Team Rocket had made their latest attempt to steal him. Drew and May had been there, and so had Mew, and of course Meowth had, too – and then they just weren't. Something had happened that made them all disappear. Of course, Pikachu knew that Mew could teleport. But why would she drag along Drew and May? Of course, why had they been with her at all? But that didn't explain why Meowth had been dragged along.

Pikachu sighed and laid back on the rock, staring at the clouds but not really seeing them. He was sure by now that Mew must have something to do with May and Drew's transformation. The question was, what did Meowth have to do with it? Was the whole thing some weird Team Rocket scheme? But why would they get Drew? Or May, for that matter? Sure, they didn't like either of them – but since May had stopped traveling with Master Ash, Pikachu thought that Team Rocket would leave her alone. And Drew, though they considered him a 'twerp' as well, had never exactly been number one on their hit list.

"_Do you want me to save you something, Pikachu?" _

Pikachu glanced behind him. It was Buneary. She had hopped up onto the rock and was watching him, looking concerned.

"_Don't bother; I'll be there when Master Brock is done. You don't have to worry about it." _

"_Are you okay?" _Buneary asked.

"_Yeah," _Pikachu said, _"I just wish I could figure out what happened back there…" _

"_You mean Mew showing up, and then disappearing with Master May and Master Drew and Meowth?" _Buneary asked, _"Piplup told me about it."_

"_Yeah," _Pikachu answered, _"Master May and Master Drew's transformations – they weren't just random events. If it had been _just _Master Drew, I could see how it might be random. But now Master May is a Pokémon, too." _

"_Maybe Meowth used to be human, too," _Buneary joked, _"And that's why he can talk."_

"_Uh-huh…" _Pikachu said absently, who was only half-listening. He hated it when he couldn't figure something out. It bugged him until he _did _figure it out, and that could sometimes be a long time.

"_You two are going to miss lunch," _Piplup said, climbing onto the rock beside Buneary, _"Brock just finished. Mamoswine's going to eat yours if you don't get over there fast."_

"_Yeah, yeah, I'm comi –"_ Pikachu broke off, listening hard. He must have imagined it, but he felt _sure _he had just heard someone speaking – someone who sounded kind of familiar.

"_Do you hear anything?" _He asked Buneary. After all, she had better ears than him.

Buneary cocked her head, listening. _"Yeah. Someone's really angry." _

"_Let's go see!" _Pikachu leapt off the rock and headed down the shore, through some tall, dry grass. Buneary raced after him.

"_Hey, you can't just go running off –" _Piplup protested, but a second later, he had followed, too.

Pikachu stopped when he was close enough to hear and see everything clearly from his hiding place in the dry grass, and gestured with his tail for silence. Buneary and Piplup came up on either side of him.

"_It's a Snubbull." _Buneary whispered.

Indeed it was – the Snubbull was hopping up and down with rage, obviously furious about something. It was yelling at a group of two Dewgongs and three Seels. One of the Dewgongs, obviously the leader, was glaring at it with narrowed eyes. Pikachu wondered why the Snubbull wasn't being more polite. It didn't look very strong, and the Dewgong, even if it hadn't been backed up by several others, looked like quite a formidable opponent.

"_You cannot defy me, you stupid Pokémon – I will soon rule the world – you _must _take me out there –" _The Snubbull raged.

The lead Dewgong flipped her tail. _"We don't _have _to do anything. Especially for a pint-sized little midget like you." _

The Snubbull swelled with rage. _"MIDGET?! Did you just call me a MIDGET?!" _

"_Maybe I did." _

"_Your insolence will not go unnoticed!" _The Snubbull roared, practically spitting with rage. _"I will –"_

But the Dewgong had had enough. With a roll of her eyes, she flicked her tail, catching the Snubbull in the back, and flung it into the ocean. _"Swim there yourself," _She said, _"midget." _She, the other Dewgong and the three Seels slid gracefully into the water and swam away in the opposite direction of the struggling Snubbull.

"_He's going to drown if we don't do something,_" Pikachu said doubtfully, still wondering why that Snubbull had sounded so familiar.

"_I'll save him,_" Piplup said importantly, and dove into the water after the Snubbull, who had just sunk below the surface. Moments later, he emerged, holding a spluttering, struggling Snubbull. _"You need to lose some pounds." _Piplup panted as he dragged the Pokémon onto shore.

The Snubbull looked as if it was about to reply, but at that moment gagged and spit out salt water. Pikachu and Buneary leapt back to avoid being hit.

Pikachu patted its back helpfully until the Snubbull had spat out all the salt water it had swallowed, which was a lot. Pikachu wondered vaguely how a Snubbull could have held all that water.

"_Feeling better?" _Buneary asked kindly, crouching down in front of it.

"_Get your filthy paws off me!" _Snubbull snarled, and knocked Pikachu's paw away.

"_What?"_

"_He was only trying to help!" _Piplup growled, leaping forwards to face the Snubbull, _"If it weren't for him, you'd be dead – if it had just been me, _I _wouldn't have bothered saving a worthless little rag like you!" _

The Snubbull looked as if it were about to spit fire. _"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" _

"_Piplup, stop it." _Pikachu insisted, leaping between the two of them as Piplup got ready to retort. _"If he wants to be left alone, then fine. Let's go back and get lunch." _

"_Fine." _Piplup grumbled. Pikachu turned to leave, pushing Piplup firmly in front of him. Buneary followed.

"_Wait!"_ The Snubbull cried suddenly, and darted in front of Piplup. _"You're a water Pokémon, right?" _

"_Well spotted," _Piplup said sarcastically, _"I can tell you're really intelligent." _

The Snubbull almost lost its temper again, but then said in a voice of forced calm that to Pikachu was even worse, said, _"How would you like to help me out with something?" _

"_Depends on what it is." _Piplup said, unimpressed.

"_I just need you to take me a little ways out to sea," _The Snubbull gestured behind him, indicating the ocean, _"to this canyon. And there, a little ways down, is an air pocket where there's something _very _important that I need to get back." _

"_Why don't you ask your friends the Dewgongs?" _Piplup asked sarcastically, _"Take a hike, loser." _

"_You don't need to be rude, Piplup," _Buneary muttered.

"_What is it?" _Pikachu asked.

"_It's…" _The Snubbull hesitated, obviously thinking fast, _"Well, what would you all say if I told you that I'm actually a human?" _

Pikachu froze. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Piplup start to say something, and shot him a warning look. Piplup closed his beak.

"_I would ask how you got to be a Pokémon," _Pikachu replied.

The Snubbull grinned. _"Smart, are you? It's this gun – it turns can transform humans into Pokémon and Pokémon into humans." _As if struck by a sudden inspiration, he added, _"As a human, I am the leader of a vast empire. If you help me return human, I will give you a top spot." _

Piplup started to say something scathing, but Pikachu cut across him quickly. _"Okay. We'll help." _

Piplup and Buneary stared at him in blank amazement.

"_Tell me one thing, though." _Pikachu continued, _"How did you get this gun?" _

"_I had it built," _Snubbull said, _"By a Pokémon named Meowth." _

It was as if a light bulb went off – this Snubbull was _Giovani_! That's why his voice sounded so vaguely familiar. For some reason, Mew was helping May and Drew. She had taken Meowth along because he had built it. So when they got to this air pocket, would the gun already be gone? Pikachu decided it was worth it to check.

"_Not all of you have to come," _Giovani said, _"Only Piplup – he's a water Pokémon." _

"_No," _Pikachu said, _"We're all coming. Buneary, do you think you can use Ice Beam to make a path across the water?" _

"_Probably," _Buneary said cautiously.

"_Then that's what we'll do." _Pikachu said, _"Let's go now before Master – our trainers start looking for us." _

Giovani nodded, looking smug. Buneary took the lead and started using her Ice Beam to make a path of frozen water. Giovani was right behind her, and quickly Pikachu fell back beside Piplup.

"_I'm only doing this so we can get that gun," _He muttered, _"Then we take it back to Master Ash and the others, and they can get it to Master May and Master Drew. Tell Buneary – I'll distract Giovani." _

"_Who?" _

"_Giovani – he's the leader of Team Rocket. That's who the Snubbull is." _

Piplup nodded tensely, for once not inclined to make a sarcastic remark. Pikachu was very thankful for this. As Piplup hurried ahead to catch up to Buneary, Pikachu called Giovani back.

"_So tell me more about this…_empire_," _He said, making sure that Giovani could hear the doubt in the his voice when he said the word.

Giovani instantly launched into a tale about the greatness of Team Rocket, nearly all of which Pikachu knew to be false.

Giovani hadn't quite finished his explanation when Buneary's latest ice path was split open as a red Gyarados reared up out of the ocean.

"_WHO DARES COME HERE?!" _The Gyarados bellowed, _"NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO COME HERE!" _

"_Gyarados!" _Giovani said, _"I am your Master – you must obey me. Take me down to the secret room. I must retrieve the gun." _

The Gyarados hesitated, and Pikachu did not like the gleam that came into its eye. _"No Pokémon is my master." _Gyarados said slowly, _"And if you once were my master…you are not anymore!" _The Gyarados raised up its tail and smashed the ice bridge.

Giovani, Piplup and Buneary all fell into the water, but Pikachu jumped just before the ice bridge was smashed.

"_Take care of Buneary!" _He ordered Piplup.

Pikachu's jump carried him all the way to the Gyarados's head, where he grabbed onto its three-pronged crown.

"_GET OFF ME!" _The Gyarados roared, shaking this way and that.

"_Listen, Gyarados!" _Pikachu yelled, _"We have friends that need that gun! They were transformed, but it was a mistake! And you don't have to guard it for your master anymore! Please, couldn't you show us where it is?" _

"_I answer to NO ONE!" _Gyarados bellowed, and started to dive underwater. Knowing that if the Gyarados hit the water, he would have no chance of electrocuting it because then he would be electrocuting Piplup and Buneary, too, Pikachu didn't waste any time. The static at his cheeks built up into a powerful Thunderbolt.

"_I'm sorry, Gyarados!" _

The Gyarados let out a roar of pain and fell into the water. Pikachu leapt off and landed where Piplup and Buneary were.

"_Where's Giovani?" _He asked.

"_I don't know – he went underwater." _Piplup said.

"_Look out!" _Buneary yelled suddenly, pointing.

Apparently, Pikachu's Thunderbolt hadn't been enough to put the Gyarados out of commission permanently. The enormous dragon Pokémon had begun to stir up a huge whirl pool with a Dragon Rage attack. An image of the last time a Gyarados had used Dragon Rage on him flashed vividly before Pikachu's eyes.

"_Hold onto each other, and don't let go whatever you do!" _He yelled over the sound of the raging water. He, Piplup and Buneary joined hands just a second before the water caught them and they were thrown into the current.

Pikachu squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. He could feel Piplup's flipper slipping and held on tighter. Something yanked on his tail.

Then, without warning, he was suddenly thrown into the air – but it wasn't the outside air, nor was there water beneath him. Instead, Pikachu slammed onto a stone floor. Piplup and Buneary fell to the ground on either side of him, and Pikachu felt Giovani land behind him – _that _was what had yanked on his tail earlier. Giovani must have grabbed it.

With a groan, Pikachu raised his head. In front of him was an enormous gun.

A/N: Well, another sort of cliff-hanger. Sorry about these, but I can't think of another way to end the chapter. Poor May and Drew – they just keep getting led on wild goose chases. Do you get now why Gyarados was so crazy? What with exams and everything, I've been struggling to keep up a steady pace with the writing, but sitting down at the computer to compose their latest adventures is definitely the highlight of my day, even if I can't write for too long before I have to force myself up again to study. I hope you like the story as much as I do! Review, please!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: HURRAY! Winter Break has begun! Thanks a million to my reviewers, That KJ Kid and Ryoko the Demon Fox. Sorry about my short delay getting this chapter up, but now that it's break and exams are over (at least for these two weeks), they should come much faster! Enjoy!

* * *

"_Nobody move!" _Giovani yelled, moving the gun into position so that it was pointing at the three Pokémon.

"_Too late for that!" _Pikachu growled, leaping onto all fours in front of Piplup and Buneary. The air crackled with electricity. _"Get away from that gun, or I'll blast you to the moon!" _

"_I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" _Giovani roared, and slammed a fist on a button. There was a whirring noise as the gun started up, but Pikachu wasted no time in electrocuting it and Giovani, and it sputtered to a halt.

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" _Gioavni screamed.

"_Piplup, Buneary, get that gun over here!" _Pikachu ordered, and leapt forwards to block Giovani. Piplup and Buneary raced to the gun and began dragging it away.

"_NO!" _Giovani roared, and leapt forwards, only to fall back as Pikachu electrocuted him again.

"_Don't move!" _Pikachu ordered, _"Or next time I won't hold back." _He hadn't been holding back before, but Giovani didn't need to know that. It worked: Giovani froze in place, shock transforming his face.

"_I know who you are –"_

"_That's right," _Pikachu said, _"I'm the one you've been having those three idiots try to capture for so long."_

Giovani's voice changed immediately to a whiny, pleading tone. _"Please, all I want to do is change myself back into a human. I won't harm you, or your friends. If you'll just give me the gun…"_

"_No." _Pikachu said flatly, _"And you're lucky I don't throw you into the sea for Gyarados." _He glanced behind him at Piplup. _"What should we do with him?" _He muttered, too low for Giovani to hear.

"_I thought you had an idea."_ Piplup whispered back.

"_I don't want to kill him, and we've got to get that gun to Master May and Master Drew. But you're not strong enough to pull it to the surface – you're _not _Piplup, and you know it." _He added, seeing the defiance on Piplup's face.

"_I don't know anything of the sort." _Piplup grumbled.

"_Buneary? Any ideas?" _Pikachu turned to her. Buneary shook her head.

Pikachu sighed. Why did it always seem to be him having to come up with solutions? _"Piplup," _He said, _"I want you to go and get Master Ash and Master Dawn and Master Brock. Bring them back here. If they won't come, then just get Buizel somehow – hopefully the two of you together will be able to get that gun back to shore." _

"_On it!" _Piplup said, and without hesitation, dove into the water.

Pikachu turned back to Giovani, who had been trying to inch around him to the gun. He stopped the instant he saw Pikachu's eyes trained on him once more.

"_Don't even think about it." _Pikachu said.

* * *

"_Finally!" _May gasped, as they climbed out of the sewer. She shook off each of her paws, then swiveled her tail around in front of her and began squeezing water out of it with her two front paws. _"I thought we'd never get out of there." _

"_I don't see how this is much better," _Drew said gloomily, looking around them at the dismal-looking bathroom that smelled almost as bad as it looked. They had come out of the drain in the shower, only after an extremely tight squeeze and Mew's help pushing the drain off.

"_Of course it is!" _Mew squealed, bouncing onto Meowth's head and almost unbalancing him (she had turned into a Skitty), _"Now starts the real adventure!" _

"Yeah, right," Meowth muttered, not very enthusiastic.

"_Come on, let's go!" _Mew said, and leapt off of Meowth's head and onto the door handle, which she turned with her tail. Then, as Meowth began to lead the way into the hall beyond, she leapt back onto his head, giggling madly when he yelped and stumbled. Drew and May exchanged glances, and followed.

Drew knew that May was thinking the same thing: they couldn't be caught. Meowth had told them that enough times, but he had known even without Meowth's warning. And Mew wasn't doing anything to lessen the noise they created.

If they were caught, would they have to fight?

"_Ooh, maybe it's that one!" _Mew whispered suddenly, pointing over the top of Meowth's head at a door where two men stood guard, looking alert. Fortunately, the men seemed to be looking for human-sized intruders.

"Quiet!" Meowth hissed, and quickly back tracked, motioning for May and Drew to follow him. He turned down a side hall, smaller than the one they had been in.

"If the gun is here, then it won't be right in the middle of the base, where everyone's just walking around," He explained tightly, "It'll be somewhere hidden; isolated. And it won't have just two grunts guarding it."

"_Do you know your way around the whole place?" _Drew asked.

Meowth hesitated, peering around a corner to make sure the coast was clear. He waved them forward before answering. "It's been a while since I've been here, so the Boss may have made some changes. But the basic layout is the same. I'm taking you to the storage rooms."

"_You think he'd hide the gun in a closet?" _May said doubtfully.

"Not a closet," Meowth said, sounding irritated as they raced along a wall, silently as shadows, "The storage rooms are a huge network of tunnels below the main base, where the usual grunts come and go, and Giovani gives his orders. There are hundreds of rooms down there."

"_What's in them?" _May asked apprehensively.

Meowth shrugged. "Lots of stuff."

"_Apples?" _Mew asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Meowth allowed, "But mostly just inventions, stolen goods and Pokémon waiting for sale, Pokémon that were disobedient and – hey, I'm just answering your question!" He protested at May's furious glare.

"_There are Pokémon down there?" _Drew demanded, _"Stolen ones? And you sell them?" _

"Well, not me specifically…"

"_But they're going to be sold. To who?" _Drew asked.

"Lots of people," Meowth said, sounding distinctly uncomfortable, "Just…clients. There's no exact profile, really."

"_And what do you mean, Pokémon that were disobedient?" _May asked.

"They didn't do as their masters told them to do," Meowth said, "They didn't want to…steal or…or hurt other Pokémon. So, they're being taught not to disobey." He sounded more miserable the more he said.

Drew fell silent. He wished to be anywhere but here, doing anything but this. They had to get the gun. They had to get in and out, as fast and as silent as they could. But what if they encountered stolen Pokémon, in cages? Or Pokémon that were being hurt, starved, or whatever Team Rocket did to its Pokémon to make them obey? They couldn't just leave them there, could they?

He glanced at May; her face was determined, if a little sickened. He knew, without having to ask, that she had already made up her mind: she would want to rescue any Pokémon they encountered.

Drew knew that would create noise. He also knew, even though he could attack now, his attacks were dismally weak at best. They couldn't fight. They couldn't attract attention. Meowth didn't have the fight in him to stop May from trying to help those Pokémon, and she wouldn't listen to him anyway. Mew was too easily distracted. So it would have to be him. He would have to keep her from helping injured, stolen, probably miserable and home-sick Pokémon. Stop her from saving countless Pokémon, just to save his own six, and himself.

Did that make him just as evil as anyone in Team Rocket?

Drew stared at the back of Meowth's head, or at least what wasn't obscured by Mew's wagging tail. Meowth was a little twisted, yes. But evil? Who was he to say that Meowth was evil, or anyone in Team Rocket for that matter, when he didn't know what circumstances had made them what they were?

Drew didn't have any more time to ponder this, for at that moment Meowth turned down a steep staircase and they headed into darkness.

They climbed down three flights of stairs, and then the narrow staircase opened up into a network of crisscrossing tunnels, with doors at even intervals along the wall. In between the doors on the walls were small lanterns, providing dim, flickering shadows that showed him where everyone was. It was slightly eerie, and Drew was certain that without Meowth's guidance he would get lost. It was not a particularly reassuring feeling.

"_Wow, now this is a real adventure!" _Mew said wonderingly. In the dim light, Drew saw her silhouette leap off of Meowth's head and scamper ahead of him.

"Mew, wait, it's dangerous!" Meowth protested in a whisper, and ran after her.

Not wanting to be left alone to get lost in these black pits, Drew raced after them with May right behind him.

"_Ooh, look!" _Mew squealed delightedly, skidding to a halt so suddenly that Meowth almost ran into her. May, a moment later, did run into Meowth, although Drew just barely managed to avoid the collision. Meowth toppled over.

"Watch where you're going, twerp!" Meowth protested as he fell flat on his face and May fell on top of him.

"_Sorry!" _May gasped.

"_Apples!" _Mew cried happily, and Drew realized what she had seen in the slightly ajar door of one of the many rooms. A crate of apples was lying against the wall.

"Wait!" Meowth cried, "You don't know who those apples belong to!"

"_But they're just lying there," _Mew protested, hesitating in the doorway.

"Even so, you can't take them." Meowth said firmly.

Mew hesitated a fraction of a second longer, then turned and scampered into the room. _"I'm sure no one will mind if I just take one!" _She called over her shoulder.

"Wait!" Meowth bounded after her, followed by May and Drew.

Mew was already sitting on top of the crate, now in her usual form, eating an apple.

"Mew, you've got to stay disguised," Meowth said, sounding really mad for the first time, "If someone sees –"

"Who's there?" A voice called out suddenly.

Meowth eyes widened. "Hide!" He ordered, and leapt on top of Mew, shoving her down into the apples despite her protests. He leapt after her, and covered them with apples.

"_Come on!" _Drew hissed, grabbed May and dragging her over to another pile of crates. One of them was overturned, and they hid underneath it, not a moment too soon. A pair of black boots stalked into the room. The light of a flashlight swept over them, and Drew held his breath.

Then four clawed feet prowled in after the boots.

"Smell them out, Houndoom," The voice ordered, "I know they're here."

_A Houndoom? _May glanced at Drew, her eyes wide with fright. Drew tried to draw courage from the fact that he was a water type, strong against a fire type like Houndoom.

The nose of the Houndoom descended to the ground as it began sniffing. It passed over the apple crate; the smell of apples must have hidden Meowth and Mew. Then it proceeded towards them.

Drew backed up, pulling May with him. They hit the back of the crate. The Houndoom grew closer. Drew was certain that even if by some miracle it couldn't smell them, it would hear his heart thundering.

Then the Houndoom let out a thundering growl. _"There they are!" _It snarled, and pounced. The crate went flying, and Drew was ready. He unleashed a Bubblebeam, right in the Houndoom's face. An image of Vaporeon as a human, flying through the water to slam the Gyarados in the eye, came to mind. An uneven match – just about as uneven as it got; but she had won.

The Houndoom recoiled instinctively from the water, and Drew leapt at it. _"May, run!" _He yelled as he did so. He landed on the Houndoom's face and wrapped his flippers around its muzzle, holding its powerful jaws with all his strength. The Houndoom snarled and tried to open its mouth, but Drew jabbed his beak into its eye.

The Houndoom whirled around and rammed its head into a wall, slamming Drew so hard that he fell off, dazed.

"_Drew!" _He heard May scream.

"Flamethrower!" The black-booted person yelled, and the Houndoom whirled around and unleashed the fiery jet, not at Drew, but at May, who had leapt out of her hiding place to try and help. The fire caught her in mid-jump and blasted her backwards into the pile of crates.

"That's enough, already!" Meowth exploded from the apple crate, "Take care of that Houndoom, Mew, go! I'll get this one!" He flew at Black-boot's face, and began raking the human with his claws.

Mew shot out after him, as a Mudkip again, and unleashed one of the most powerful Water Guns that Drew had ever seen. The force of the water threw the Houndoom backwards and made it howl in pain. Mew darted over to it and stood threateningly above it.

"_Don't move an inch!" _She ordered, and Drew saw, just for a moment, where she got the name legendary.

May raced over to Drew. _"Are you okay?" _She cried.

"_Yeah, fine," _Drew said, painfully sitting up.

At that moment, there was a yelp of pain as the human grabbed Meowth and threw him. In a flash, Mew was back to herself. A pink bubble appeared behind Meowth, cushioning him. Almost simultaneously, Mew unleashed a powerful ball of energy which lifted the human off his feet, held him suspended in the air a moment, his face a mask of surprise, and then flung him into the wall.

Then Mew whirled on the Houndoom. _"Now," _She said, and her eyes flashed dangerously, _"We are looking for a gun. A gun that can change a human into a Pokémon and vice versa. You _will _tell us where it is." _

Drew stared at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Meowth's amazement plain on his face, and knew that Meowth had never seen Mew like this either.

The Houndoom growled. _"I won't." _It rasped.

Mew's eyes narrowed. _"You will," _She said, _"Or you will suffer the consequences." _

"_Does she really think that Houndom knows where the gun is?" _May muttered in Drew's ear.

"_Pokémon must hear more than humans," _Drew whispered back, _"After all, nobody thinks twice about talking about secrets in front of a Pokémon. It doesn't matter, because they can't tell anyone. Unless another Pokémon, and no one thinks that matters. I'd bet it does know." _

Mew's eyes glowed blue, and the Houndoom gasped in pain. _"Shall I continue?" _Mew asked, her voice as dangerous as her eyes.

"_No!" _The Houndoom cried, _"No, stop! Stop!" _

Mew's eyes returned to their usual color.

"_I don't know where it is," _The Houndoom gasped, _"But I know it's not here. It's not in the base. Giovani had it moved – far, far away where no one would ever find it." _

"_Thank you." _Mew said, _"Now, do you know who would know where it is?" _

The Houndoom didn't answer.

Mew's eyes started to glow. _"Are you really thinking of withholding information from me? Or have you forgotten who I am?" _

"_Persian!" _The Houndoom cried, _"Persian would know – he's always with the Master. When the Master disappeared, Persian looked for him; but he never found him. He stays in the Master's rooms, and he never comes out." _He hesitated for a second before adding: _"The Master's other Pokémon guard the rooms. You'll have to get past them first." _

"_I think we can do that," _Mew said quietly. _"I would thank you not to speak of this to anyone, Houndoom. Keep quiet, and no more harm will befall you; otherwise…" _

"_I understand," _The Houndoom said.

"_Right, then let's go." _Mew said shortly, looking at Meowth. _"To Giovani's rooms." _

A/N: Well, what do you think? Mew can be scary when she wants to be, huh? And Drew is learning more and more about himself, and about how to be a Pokémon! And Team Rocket just gets worse and worse, don't they? Tell me! I want your opinions on EVERYTHING! R&R, please!


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Okay guys, I'm back. I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I got some awesome stuff for Christmas, so I was distracted. Thanks to my awesome reviewers, That KJ Kid, Ryoko the Demon Fox and Mr Sonic 101!

Pikachu glanced over his shoulder at a loud splash from the entrance to the cave that soaked Buneary. Buizel was the first into the cave, followed by a spluttering Ash, then Piplup and Dawn, and finally Brock.

"_You got them to come!" _He said, giving Piplup a thumbs up, _"Good job." _

"_Tha – Pikachu, watch out!"_

Pikachu turned around just in time for Giovani to ram him in the stomach so hard it was as if he had just learned Headbutt somehow. With a cry of pain, Pikachu was sent flying back and Giovani dove for the gun.

"Hey!" Ash yelled, catching Pikachu before he hit the ground.

"_Pikachu!" _Buneary cried, running over to them.

"_Don't worry about me; get the –" _

But it was too late. With a shout of triumph, Giovani slammed his fist down on the button labeled: _Change._ Pikachu got a second's glance of Buizel and Piplup leaping out of the way, Brock dragging Dawn to the wall, before the light hit him.

It was blinding, but Pikachu couldn't close his eyes. Pain like he had never known erupted in every part of him. The first part of the pain was the stretching: it was as if his insides were swelling to massive sizes, so fast that his skin couldn't keep up with them. His eyes were popping out of his head, and his ears were shriveling up. He could feel electricity pouring from his cheeks, into the ground, and tried desperately to stop it, but couldn't. All his strength was leaving him.

Pikachu guessed that he must have blacked out for a moment, but not long, because by the time he could see again there was no more light, and Giovani was rocketing backwards into the back wall of the cave, propelled by a jet of water from Buizel. Without letting up, Buizel jumped into the air in a powerful Aqua Jet. A little ways away, Brock and Dawn were bent over an unconscious Squirtle.

Everything felt strange. It was as though he had gone deaf; sounds were muffled; he felt oddly soft, and was far more aware of the rocks digging into his back than he had been before the light.

"Pikachu? Are you okay?"

Pikachu looked at the source of the voice, somewhere above him. A girl came into focus. Pikachu wasn't one to find humans beautiful or ugly; they were just humans to him, and although he could recognize different ones, the differences in their features weren't nearly as telling as their scents. But this girl was different.

She had soft brown hair, falling all around her face, and big brown eyes. Her pale lips were thin, and her nose small. Her skin was creamy-colored and looked soft. She wore a brown sweater dress with a fuzzy tan collar, and brown boots with the same sort of fur around their tops. Everything about the girl looked delicate, yet strong. It was weird.

"Are you okay?" The girl repeated, and then it hit him: this was Buneary. They both must have turned into humans, and that Squirtle must be Ash. He wondered if Buneary had always been this beautiful, and he had never noticed.

Pikachu struggled to sit up. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"It was painful at first," Buneary admitted, "But the pain's mostly gone now. What about you?"

"Yeah, I guess." Pikachu sighed. It was true that most of the pain was gone. His limbs still felt horribly weak, but maybe that was just part of being human. He wondered suddenly what he looked like, but couldn't picture himself as human.

"_Urgh…what happened?" _Ash's groggy voice came from the Squirtle, _"I feel weird." _He opened his eyes, and with a yelp of horror, leapt to his feet, pointing at Brock and Dawn. _"You – you – you're _giant_!" _He whirled around, catching sight of Buizel. _"And so are you! And who are _they_?!" _He was pointing at Pikachu and Buneary.

"Ash," Dawn said hesitantly, "Those are Pikachu and Buneary. You're a Squirtle now. That Snubbull did it." She pointed to Giovani, who was completely dazed now and was propped against the wall. Buizel stood next to him, standing guard, with his arms crossed.

"That's not a Snubbull!" Pikachu said, remembering, "That's Giovani. That gun is what changed Master May and Master Drew, and all of his Pokémon – Meowth built it, and gave it to Giovani, but somehow it must have backfired because Giovani got turned into a Pokémon, too."

Piplup started laughing uncontrollably suddenly.

"What?" Pikachu said indignantly, "It's true! You know that."

"_It's not that," _Piplup gasped, _"It's just – you look funny!" _

"I do not!"

"_You _do_! You look absolutely hilarious!" _He melted into laughter once more, _"I just can't take you seriously anymore!" _

"_This thing is Giovani?" _Buizel said disgustedly, lifting one of Giovani's arms and letting it drop back down. _"He's pathetic." _

"Well," Brock said, "We can fix this right now." He walked over to the gun and picked it up.

"Wait!" Dawn cried, "What if it backfires for you like it did for Giovani? You could end up as a Pokémon, too!"

"We'll just have to take the risk," Brock said, "We can't leave them like this."

"_What should we do about Giovani?" _Ash asked. Brock and Dawn looked at him blankly.

"What?" Dawn said.

"They can't understand you, Master Ash," Pikachu explained. Ash jumped, then turned to him, scowling.

"_Don't call me master." _He said firmly, _"It's weird." _

Pikachu glanced at Buneary and Buizel uncomfortably. Both of them looked just as stunned as he was sure he did. "But…"

Ash wasn't listening. He was scratching into the small bit of sand on the floor of the cave: _What should we do about Giovani? _

Brock shrugged. "I don't want to leave him as a Pokémon, but on the other hand, he's done nothing good. I don't want to change him back and have him attack us, either."

"What can he do?" Dawn said scathingly, "Ash's pokeballs all came loose when he turned into a Squirtle, so Giovani doesn't have any Pokémon with him right now. If he tries to attack us, I'll have Mamoswine squash him."

Pikachu looked down, and realized that, indeed, all five of Ash's pokeballs were scattered on the floor.

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that we have to at least try to reverse the damage on Ash, Pikachu and Buneary," Brock said. He picked up the gun and aimed it at Pikachu and Buneary. Ash didn't move.

"_Why don't you test it on me first? If it works, then do them." _

Seeing Brock and Dawn's blank looks, Pikachu translated. Brock nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." He pointed the gun at Ash, took careful aim, and pushed the Change button.

Pikachu could see instantly that something was wrong. Instead of shooting a stream of light like it had before, an enormous ball of light began to build at the tip of the gun, getting bigger and bigger as more and more light poured into it, as if it couldn't gather the energy to get free of the gun.

"Turn it off!" He cried, "Something's not right!"

"I can't!" Brock said, "There's no stop button – I don't know if –" At that point, as if the pressure was too great, the gun blasted backwards and the light disappeared. Brock was lifted off his feet and sent crashing into the wall with the gun on top of him. Buizel jumped out of the way to avoid being hit.

"Brock!" Dawn cried, and raced over to him with Ash right on her heels. Unfortunately, Ash tripped and fell on his face before he got there. Pikachu guessed he was having difficulty adjusting to such short legs. Brock sat up painfully.

"But it worked perfectly before," Dawn protested, helping Brock to his feet, "Why didn't it work this time?"

"I guess it's faulty," Brock said.

"_Or maybe only people in Team Rocket know how to work it. Maybe Giovani has some secret that he used! Like a…password, or something." _Ash said enthusiastically. Pikachu sighed, and translated.

"Maybe," Brock said, frowning "The only way to find out would be to ask him, but…" He glanced at Giovani's unconscious form, "we won't be able to do that for a while."

"Well, let's first get out of this cave." Dawn said, "It's creepy down here."

"Alright," Brock said, "But I don't think we should have the gun with us and Giovani, in case he tries to steal it again. Someone should stay here and guard it."

There was a long pause: none of the humans wanted to stay down in the cave.

"Why don't Buneary and I do it?" Pikachu said, "We'd probably attract a lot of attention from humans if we went out there, anyway."

"Yeah, alright," Brock said, nodding, "We'll send Piplup or Buizel down with regular reports, and food."

"Okay," Pikachu said, nodding.

"_Wait a second, what about me?" _Ash asked, staring at Brock, _"If Pikachu's staying, I want to stay too." _Pikachu started to translate, but Brock must have gotten the gist of what Ash had been saying.

"We need someone to test on besides Giovani," Brock said, "So that we can know if the gun really does work or not."

"_Okay," _Ash said, defeated.

"Then let's get going," Dawn said, and bent down in front of Buneary, "Take care, Buneary. I promise we'll figure it out really soon." She glanced at Pikachu, and then whispered something in Buneary's ear so that he couldn't hear. Buneary nodded vigorously.

"_We'll get to the bottom of this, buddy," _Ash promised Pikachu while Dawn and Buneary continued whispering, _"You'll be back to normal before you know it."_

"_Yeah, soon you'll be back to looking normal," _Piplup said with a wicked grin, _"Not that that's much better than this." _Buizel smacked him in the back of the head and Piplup let out a squeak of indignation and hopped over to Dawn and Buneary, throwing Buizel a glare as he did so.

"_I won't let Master Ash get squashed like Master Drew did," _Buizel said in an undertone to Pikachu, _"I promise."_ Even though Buizel hadn't been there to see that fight, all the Pokémon had heard about it. Pikachu's face burned as he recalled how he had unknowingly battled with a human. A human! 

Brock, meanwhile, picked up Ash's pokeballs and put them in his bag. Buizel and Piplup leapt into the water, followed by Brock and Dawn, and then Ash. Pikachu hoped they would get to the bottom of it very soon.

A/N: Well, what do you think? Sorry this chapter is shorter than most; originally it was going to be longer, but then I realized how long it was taking to write when I've got so many new distractions, so I decided to just post the first part of the chapter early and make the second part a whole different chapter. So, Ash as a Squirtle: I chose Squirtle because they're so hardheaded, just like Ash, and ready for anything, again just like Ash. Also, it's said that Squirtles are difficult to train, and Ash doesn't really listen to anyone. Originally he was going to be Charmander, but then I realized there would be no way for him to get out of the cave, since water would have put out his tail flame. So I went for Squirtle instead. Tell me what you think!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Wow, the reaction to the last chapter was really great. Thanks a bunch to my reviewers: Vivid Imagist and That KJ Kid! You guys are awesome! You really are helping to get these chapters to come faster. ;D Also, to anybody confused about what was wrong with the gun in chapter 13: check back in chapter 10, near the end. You'll see!

"This is it," Meowth said, pointing, "That's the door to Giovani's room."

Drew peaked out from around the corner and felt May do the same. The expensive-looking double doors were guarded on either side by a Nidoking and a Rhydon.

"_Well, _they _don't look too bad," _Mew said confidently. She was a Skitty. _"I'll go talk to them!" _

"Wait!" Meowth hissed, and yanked her back around the corner by the tail, sending her crashing into Drew and May, both of whom toppled over with protests. Rhydon and Nidoking growled and looked around suspiciously.

"Hey, that wasn't very –" Mew started to say, but Meowth clapped a paw over her mouth, with a frantic look in the general direction of the two enormous guards.

"You can't go out there looking like that! You'll be squashed!" Meowth whispered, ignoring Mew's struggling protests, "You…I mean, why do you have to do anything?" He spun around to glare at Drew and May. "They're the ones that want the gun! _ They _should go out there!"

Drew and May exchanged panicked looks. There was no way they could fight those two Pokémon. Drew sighed. Too much of their plan depended on a love-struck psycho and an apple-loving, hyperactive crazy person.

Mew squirmed out of Meowth's grasp. _"They're my friends, Meowth! Just like you! I'm not going to send them out there alone if they're just going to be squashed!" _She sat back for a moment, thinking. Then a look that Drew really didn't like, as if a light bulb had just gone off in her head, crossed over Mew's face. _"Why don't I turn into a human and say that you three are a delivery for Giovani? I could put you on leashes to make it convincing!" _

"_You can turn into a human?" _Drew asked in amazement.

Mew gave him a disdainful look. _"I can turn into anything. _I'm _legendary." _

"_Sor-_ree_," _Drew muttered, but not so that Mew could hear him.

"_I wonder what would happen if the gun hit her, or a Ditto," _May wondered aloud, _"Do you think they could just turn right back into themselves?" _

"_Of course not," _Drew snapped, _"Once they were human, _really _human, they wouldn't have their powers anymore." _

May huffed. _"Why do you always have to be smarter than me?" _

"_Can't help it – it's genetics." _

"Will you two shut up?" Meowth snarled, "If you've got nothing else to do, then help me convince Mew that this is a stupid plan!"

"_It is not!" _Mew protested. She transformed back into herself and floated down in front of Meowth, taking his two front paws in hers and staring at him with gigantic kitty-eyes. _"It's not a stupid idea. How could you say that?" _

Meowth looked as if he had just been struck dumb by a fallen star. May snickered. Drew felt sorry for him.

"_So we can do it, right?" _Mew asked sweetly.

"Alright," Meowth said, hanging his head in defeat.

"_Great!" _Mew chimed, letting go of him and zooming up into the air, _"Now, I've never changed into a human before, so I'm not quite sure what'll happen. So everybody just be quiet and let me concentrate." _Mew closed her eyes. A soft pink glow surrounded her, and Drew could almost feel the air hum with energy.

Suddenly, he was struck by a disconcerting thought, one that apparently Meowth had at exactly the same time. "Mew, wait!" Meowth protested, "What if you're –"

He broke off as Mew disappeared. In her place was a tiny, delicate looking teenage girl with light pink, shoulder-length hair and big pink eyes. She wore a light pink tank top, skinny blue jeans, and pink flip flops.

Even to Drew, who still found poke-people slightly weird, she was pretty. He glanced at Meowth, who was staring at her as if he had just entered Heaven.

Drew heard May give a slight annoyed huff and caught her glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't think why, though. He was about to ask her when Mew bent down in front of Meowth, spread her arms wide, and grinned.

"So, do I look like a human?" She asked.

"Uh-huh," Meowth managed to say.

"Good," She said, "Then you're going to be my Pokémon, because Meowths aren't that rare. I'm going to need you to walk on all fours and act like a girl so they won't recognize you. You two –" She looked at May and Drew, "Get into these." She held out her hands and two small cages appeared there.

"_Um…will we be able to get out?" _May asked, with an apprehensive glance at Meowth.

"Hey, we want Pikachu, not twerps," Meowth said, annoyed, "Just get in."

May sighed and climbed in. Drew got into the other cage.

"Excellent!" Mew said, picking up the two cages and started to head for the door, "Come on, Meowth!"

"Wait!" Meowth hissed, "You don't look anything like Team Rocket! Come back!"

"I'm not Team Rocket," Mew said loftily, "I'm a Pokémon hunter, bringing my catch to Giovani." And with that, she stepped out into view of Nidoking and Rhydon, leaving Meowth to fall into step behind her. To his credit, he stopped gazing dreamily at Mew and walked on all fours.

Nidoking and Rhydon moved in front of the door, and Mew eyed them coolly. Drew stifled a gasp of amazement; it was as if her eyes had turned into chips of ice she looked so evil. "I didn't come here to be waylaid by a bunch of _Pokémon_," She said imperially, "Now get out of my way."

Nidoking and Rhydon exchanged stunned looks that this tiny little shrimp of a human, whose head barely came halfway up their bodies, would dare talk to them like that.

"_Should we let her in?" _Rhydon hissed.

"_She seems Team Rocket-ish enough for me," _Nidoking muttered back. They stood aside.

Mew wrenched open the door and walked inside. She shut the door behind them, and the cages disappeared from her hands, leaving May and Drew to fall to the floor. May, with her four legs, landed perfectly. Drew fell on his face.

"Well, that was easy," Mew giggled, "They were real idiots, don't you think?"

Drew struggled to his feet, wincing. He was sure he had just bruised his beak. He looked around in amazement. Antique rugs and expensive looked appliances and furniture were everywhere.

Just then, Persian leapt into view, landing on top of the couch just in front of them. His teeth were bared in a snarl and he was crouched as if ready to spring.

"_What are you doing here?" _He growled, _"Get out!" _

Meowth started to put himself between Mew and Persian, but Mew side-stepped him and transformed back into herself.

"_No," _She said coolly.

Persian growled, not in the least bit intimidated. His eyes were wild with rage, and, Drew though privately, something like grief. Persian through himself at Mew, screeching with rage, but before he had crossed half the distance he froze in midair and flew back against the wall, surrounded by a pink glow.

"_Not until you answer some questions," _Mew said.

"_I'm glad she's on our side," _May muttered to Drew, who nodded fervently.

"_Let me go!" _Persian yowled, struggling, _"I'll rip your throat open; I'll spill your insides; I'll tear your eyes out –"_

"Don't speak to Mew like that!" Meowth yelled, leaping onto the couch behind Mew, his claws out.

Persian's crazed eyes fixed on him. _"You! I should have known you were in on it, you traitorous little –" _

Mew's eyes narrowed and Persian gagged, clutching at his throat. Then he glared at Mew, and Drew realized with some relief that she hadn't been choking him. She had just stopped him from talking.

"_Do you see those two behind me?" _Mew asked, nodding at May and Drew, who both shrank back a bit as Persian's furious glare fixed on them. _"The same thing that happened to your master happened to them. And _his _Pokémon were turned into humans. We're looking for the gun to set things right. With me so far?" _

Persian glared at her and didn't make any move to respond, but Mew didn't seem too concerned.

"_Now, would you like to tell me where it is?" _The pink glow lessened somewhat and Mew set Persian down lightly on an expensive looking table, whose legs had been shaped to look like clawed feet. Persian glared at Mew as if he would like nothing better than to make good on his threats from before. He crouched down, ready to spring, and Meowth hissed and got ready to intercept him.

"_Wait!" _May cried, and leapt up next to Meowth.

"_May!" _Drew cried, and tried to go after her, only to miscalculate his jump and tumble back to the floor. Nobody noticed.

"_Persian," _May said, _"I know you must feel awful for Giovani. But we can help him, too. Really, we will! It's just that we need the gun first. We want to go back to normal again, too. My Pokémon probably miss me, too, just like you do Giovani. Don't you think it would be unfair to them, even if you don't care about me, to just find the gun for Giovani and then leave me and Drew as Pokémon?" _

Persian stared at her for a moment, and then his whole posture seemed to slump. He hung his head and sat down with a miserable moan. _"I'd never wish this on any Pokémon," _He said brokenly, _"No matter if they were the enemies of Master Giovani or not." _

Drew determinedly attempted to drag himself up onto the couch where May and Meowth were, but again fell back down. _Curse these stupid, short legs! _he thought furiously.

"_I'd help you get the gun," _Persian said, _"Really I would. But I can't. When Master Giovani first told me about it, he left to go find the Pokémon that had been turned into humans. But he didn't come back the same way. I remember seeing him as a Pokémon, as a Snubbull, when he tried to come back here to get help retrieving the gun. But the guards at the front gate just laughed, and tried to get him to leave." _Persian looked up at May, his eyes so miserable it made Drew wonder just how evil Giovani really was. He couldn't be fully evil if Persian loved him so much, could he?

"_But Master Giovani wouldn't go. I tried to get there in time to tell them to stop, but by the time I got there, one of the Pokémon had done Hyper Beam, and blasted him away. I haven't seen him since." _

"_But where did he hide the gun?" _May asked.

"_Underwater," _Persian said, _"It was in a cave, guarded by Gyarados. Gyarados hated Master Giovani; I tried to tell him that, to warn him; but of course he didn't listen. And Gyarados, when my master ordered him to guard the gun, found the hole in his orders. Gyarados will guard the gun from everyone; my master included. No one's going to get near that gun. I guarantee you that." _

Drew dug his beak into the couch cushion and finally managed to hop up alongside May, with a feeling of great triumph. _"That Gyarados," _He said, _"It wasn't red, was it?" _

"_Yeah, he was," _Persian said, _"I see you've already tried to get the gun, then?" _

"_No, I was there by mistake." _Drew said, _"But I know where that is. And besides, that Gyarados seems to be very susceptible to becoming an ice cube." _He added, glancing at May, who grinned at him. _"We'll get that gun." _

"_And don't worry," _May said kindly to Persian, _"I promise we'll turn Giovani back, too." _Drew glanced at her uneasily.

Persian snorted. _"I don't believe you."_

"_We will!" _May cried, looking at Drew for support, _"Right?" _

Drew stared at his feet. _"Yeah, sure." _

"_Liar!" _Persian snarled.

"I _will change him back," _Mew interrupted, _"I have no quarrel with any human, but I hate to see a Pokémon in pain. Though I can't see why you'd miss someone you're forced to call master… But even so, I will turn him back human and send him on his way here. Okay?" _

Drew fought back indignation. He didn't _force _his Pokémon to call him master. He didn't even want them to.

Persian nodded, seeming satisfied.

"_Now!" _Mew said, turning to them, _"Everybody ready for teleportation? Let's go!" _

A/N: Whoo, that was quick! Honestly, I did not expect to be updating this soon, but I just got so inspired when I saw the reviews. Thanks, guys! So, about Giovani: I figured, despite all his flaws, that he really does love Persian. That much is obvious. Hope I did a good job showing that. Also, I'm undecided at how I'm going to bring Giovani and Persian to a resolution that will be happy for them as well as everybody else, because I'm already positive that I want this story to have a happy resolution. So if anyone has suggestions for the pair, I'm open to them. In case I don't get another chapter up in time for this, have a happy New Year, everybody! :D 


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Hurray! The story is really starting to come together now. I'm so happy! *tear, tear* So, thanks always to That KJ Kid, my faithful reviewer, and enjoy the latest installment!

Mew teleported them to a beach where Brock and Dawn were interrogating Giovani and trying to figure out why the gun wasn't working. Buizel and Piplup were glaring menacingly at him, and a Squirtle was sitting forlornly nearby, staring out into the ocean. Giovani was refusing to say a word.

"_Wait a second…" _May muttered, staring at the Squirtle, _"Don't tell me…"_

"_It's got to be Ash," _Drew said, _"Sucks for him." _

May glared at him and started to say something in reply, but before she could, the party on the beach caught sight of them.

"It's May and Drew!" Dawn exclaimed, "And Mew's here, too!"

"_And Meowth," _Ash added, eyeing Meowth distastefully, _"What do you want?" _

Since Meowth was the only one who could talk to humans, he was the one that did all the explaining. Unfortunately, Ash, Brock and Dawn refused to believe him. So Mew turned human to vouch for his explanations. Brock had to be dragged away by Croagunk, and Drew noticed May glaring at him again. He hastily looked down at his feet. What was it with girls?

"Well then," Brock said, who had just managed to come back now that Mew had returned to her usual form, "We had better send Buizel and Piplup out to the cave to pick up the gun."

Giovani perked up.

"_I'll go too," _Ash said. He and the two Pokémon leapt into the water. Drew noticed with a flash of annoyance that _Ash _didn't seem to have any problems swimming. Drew hoped briefly that they got eaten by Gyarados, then decided against that wish. If they were, then he would be the last chance of getting the gun, as the only water Pokémon left.

"_I wonder if out Pokémon have gotten here yet," _May said.

"_Well, if they have, then they'd have come out around the forest. I doubt they'd come down to the beach." _Drew said, _"Do you want to go check? It'll probably take them a while to get to the cave." _

"_Why not?" _May said, _"Meowth, tell Brock and Dawn what we're going tot do." _Meowth translated, and May and Drew left.

"_You know, I never really appreciated how useful a Pokémon that can speak human could be," _May commented, _"I hope Brock and Dawn don't get hoodwinked by Giovani somehow." _

"_Mew'll kepp an eye on him," _Drew said.

"_Mm," _May commented.

Drew didn't really know what to say to that, and May didn't offer any more conversation, so they went the rest of the way in silence. They had to stick to the forest trails, which were less direct than the city ones, so that no one thought it strange to see two fairly rare Pokémon for this region just wandering around on their own. They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when May's ears pricked up.

"_I think I hear them," _She said, and sped up. Sure enough, next to the lake where Drew had first discovered his Piplup-ed-ness, six Pokémon and six would-be-Pokémon were talking and messing around.

Vaporeon, Venasaur, Masquerain and Munchlax were nearest the water, and were playing around in it with lots of laughter and, in Vaporeon and Masquerain's case, shrieks as the water hit them. Drew guessed that Pokémon couldn't shriek.

Quilava was a way's back from the water laughing about something with Beautifly and Wartortle. Nearby them, but engaged in their own conversation, were Absol and Glaceon. Blaziken and Roselia were across from them, Roselia sitting on a low tree branch so she could talk to Blaziken without him having to bend down.

Drew almost didn't noticed Flygon, who was standing by himself, arms crossed, leaning against a tree and facing away from the lake, completely expressionless.

"_We're never going to get these guys to battle each other again," _May whispered, dismayed, _"Look how great of friends they all are now!" _

Drew gave a half-hearted shrug, distracted by the sinking feeling in his stomach he got when he saw Flygon. He made up his mind right there: once he was human again, and Flygon was a Pokémon again, he was going to release him.

"Master Drew!" Flygon had caught sight of them approaching and straightened up, "Did you find the gun?"

The other Pokémon saw them and turned around. There was a chorus of delighted greetings, and May ran off to say hello to Blaziken.

"_Yes," _Drew said, _"It was in a cave underwater, so Buizel and Piplup went to get it. Oh, and Ash too – he got turned into a Squirtle. They were the ones that found it first." _

"So we'll be back to normal again?" Quilava said, his face lighting up.

"Aw man," Vaporeon moaned, "Master Drew, will you let me out once in a while in a city, so I can go window shopping anyway?"

Drew suppressed an eye-roll. _"Fine."_

"Me too?" Masquerain asked hopefully.

"_Whatever." _

"Don't do it, Master Drew," Absol advised, "They'll tear whatever store you let them go into apart. I should know. I practically had to drag them away from the Poke Mart in town."

"_Yeah, and Munchlax, too," _Glaceon added with a glare in Munchlax's direction, _"At least Venasaur couldn't get through the door." _

"_That's not very nice!" _Venasaur protested.

"Don't worry, Venasaur!" Masquerain chirped, "The next time we see each other, we'll tell you _all _about the stores Master Drew lets us into!"

"_Okay, that's enough," _May said, _"We've got to get back to the beach. Come on, everyone." _

Drew was very thankful that there weren't any people around as they made their way, none too quietly, back to the beach. Drew gave up trying to keep up, and leapt onto Roselia's offered shoulder.

"So," She said quietly, "How are you?"

"_Better, now," _Drew said.

Roselia hesitated. "Because you're going to be a human again?"

"_Yeah," _Drew said, _"Why, aren't you glad to be a Pokémon?"_

"I guess," Roselia sighed.

"_What?"_

"It's just…we won't be able to talk anymore. I mean, really talk. You won't understand a word I'm saying."

"_Let's learn sign language." _

Roselia gave him an annoyed glance. "I think Master May's sense of humor is rubbing off on you."

"_Sorry." _Drew was quiet for a minute, then blurted out, _"I've decided to release Flygon." _

"You –"

"_He never has fun. He's never smiling. And he shouldn't have to call me master all the time; none of you should, but him especially. He'll be happier on his own." _

Roselia was silent for a long time. "I think you're making a mistake," She said finally.

They didn't have anymore chance to discuss it, because at that point they reached the beach. Ash looked exhausted, Buizel and Piplup were standing a menacing guard over Giovani, and Brock and Dawn were watching as Meowth did something with the gun. Mew hovered over them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Drew noticed two humans that looked suspiciously like Pikachu and Buneary deep in a whispered conversation, well away from the others.

"What have you twerps been doing to this gun?" Meowth was saying indignantly as he turned it over on the sand, examining every inch of it, "It's all banged up! And no wonder it almost back-fired –" He reached into the nozzle and pulled out something small and grey, "You got a pebble stuck in it! Of course, if this had been the good one, it would've just fired the pebble right out, but…" He glanced around, noticing May, Drew and the Pokémon.

"Oh," He said, not looking very enthusiastic, "There you are. Now, remember what I said before, about how it might not work right. You might get stuck with some part of you still being a Pokémon."

Drew's eyes widened. _"Roselia," _He hissed, _"What if I'm blue for the rest of my life?"_

Roselia snickered, and Drew glared at her.

"_That doesn't matter," _Ash said, _"Just try it – I'll go first." _

Meowth sighed. "Okay."

"_Wait!" _Giovani cried, _"What about me? I want to be human again, too!"_

"_Well shut it, because you're not going to be." _Ash snapped, _"You'll just keep on trying to steal Pokémon." _

"_Ash!" _May leapt forward to face him, _"I know Giovani's done some bad things, but we met his Persian, and he's just miserable without Giovani. We have to change him back, for Persian's sake." _

Ash was speechless. He looked at Drew. _"Really? You met Persian?" _

"_Yeah," _Drew muttered. He still didn't really agree with this.

"Okay, so that's settled," Meowth said, looking happy, "The twerp will go first." He aimed the gun at Ash and pressed a button. There was a burst of light, and Drew through his closed eyes, Drew thought he heard Ash give a cry of pain. That did not help improve his outlook.

When the light cleared, Ash was unconscious, and his hat was a good five feet away.

"Ash!" Pikachu cried, and started to run to him, with Buneary behind him.

"Next," Meowth said, aiming the gun at the two of them. He pressed the button again and this time Drew was sure he heard Buneary scream. They weren't unconscious, but they both on the ground, obviously in pain. He shrunk a little on Roselia's shoulder.

"Now," Meowth said, whirling on him and Roselia, "For you." He pressed the button.

* * * 

Drew awoke to a stark white ceiling. He sat up and immediately regretted doing so; his head gave a painful throb. He lay back down slowly and glanced around the room. The walls were pale green and so were the blankets of the bed he was in. There was a night stand next to his bed, and another bed was on the opposite side of the room. There was a window in between them. This was a room in a Pokémon Center.

"_Master Drew?" _

Drew realized that Roselia had been sitting on the windowsill. She was a Pokémon again, he noticed with relief, before she jumped over onto the bed.

"_Master Drew, I've been so worried! You've been out all day, even Master May woke up before you, although I think Master Ash is still passed out and – and – When Meowth said you would be stuck with something of a Pokémon, I was envisioning all kinds of horrible stuff; you could have had flippers instead of arms, or duck feet, or a beak, or – oh, I'm just so glad you're okay!" _

"Yeah, me too," Drew said.

Roselia froze. Her eyes widened. Then she cocked her head, as if she had just gotten an idea. _"Master Drew," _She said slowly, _"What is the name of…your only female rival that is _you _age?"_

"May," Drew said, giving her a look, "Why would you ask something like that?"

Roselia stared at him for a minute, mouth open. Then a smile spread slowly across her face. _"You can understand me!" _She cried happily, and threw her arms around him. Of course, they couldn't actually fit all the way around anymore.

Drew was quiet for a minute, and then let out a highly uncharacteristic shout of laughter. "That's what must be Pokémon about me still! I can understand Pokémon! That's great!"

"What are you shouting about?" May asked, walking into the room and massaging her head as she did so.

"May, can you understand Pokémon, too?" Drew asked.

"You can do it, too?" May asked, sounding thrilled.

"Yeah!"

"Me too!"

"Well, I hope Ash can, too, or he'll be really annoyed," May commented.

"Who cares?" Drew said, "He could always understand them pretty well, anyway."

"Yeah," May said, "He is good at that."

"_Come on," _Roselia said, getting bored with this conversation, _"We've got to go tell everyone else the good news! Let's go!" _She leapt off the bed and to the door. Drew followed her.

"See you later," May said, waving, "I'm going to go check on Ash again."

A flash of resentment shot through Drew, surprising him. He ignored it.

Roselia led him out of the Pokémon Center and to the practice field. There, a little ways into the forest, were the rest of Drew's Pokémon, all of them miraculously Pokémon again. Drew tried his best to ignore the twinge of apprehension at the sight of Flygon.

"_Master Drew!" _Vaporeon cried, _"You're better!" _She jumped on him.

"_And you're human!" _Masquerain cried, flying in happy circles around his head.

"_He can understand us now," _Roselia informed them.

"_Really?" _Absol said, _"That's great!"_

"_So does that mean that you'll give me food whenever I ask for it?" _Vaporeon asked, _"Because I'm hungry right now." _

"_You're always hungry," _Quilava said, rolling his eyes. Drew smiled. Quilava never would have said something like that before all this happened. That was another good thing that had come out of it.

"Perhaps not _every _time you ask," Drew said, lifting Vaporeon off him and setting her on the ground, "But at least now you can be reassured that your request has been noted." He looked up at the other Pokémon, deliberately avoiding looking at Flygon, the only one who had yet to say anything. "So what happened after I…passed out?"

"_Well, first Meowth told all of Master May's Pokémon to move so that he could get a clear shot at us,"_ Vaporeon said, "_And then he changed us."_

"_It was pretty painful,"_ Masquerain muttered, "_Way more painful than last time."_

"_And then Meowth was about to change Master Giovani back, too,"_ Absol continued, _"But Master Brock told him to wait, and he started listing all the bad things that would happen if Master Giovani was a human again, and all the things that already had." _

"_But then Master Giovani got this desperate look in his eye, and he jumped forwards and made a grab for the gun!"_ Masquerain interrupted, eyes alight as she got to the exciting part of the story, "_But Buizel hit him with Aqua Jet, and then, out of nowhere –" _

"_Persian came!" _Vaporeon cut across her excitedly, _"And he just completely _lit into _Buizel! None of us had even noticed, but Mew had teleported back to Team Rocket's base and come back with him; I guess she was on Team Rocket's side after all –"_

"_No she wasn't!" _Quilava protested, _"She just didn't want to see Persian so sad all the time because his master was forever stuck as a Pokémon –"_

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever," _Vaporeon interrupted, _"So anyway, Buizel was out cold, and Persian went after Piplup next. And then Brock sent out his Croagunk and had him do Poison Jab, but Persian just _dodged_, just like that! And Poison Jab hit Mew right out of the sky!"_

"_But she was okay, because she did her shield thing." _Quilava added reassuringly.

"_And then Meowth got into it, too!" _Masquerain said, _"And he just _slammed _Croagunk across the back with Scratch attack, and Croagunk fell, right onto the gun. And Meowth was screaming at Mew to get out of there, to teleport –"_

"_And Croagunk had fallen on the change button, so the gun was getting ready to go –"_

"_And there was a huge FLASH!" _Masquerain cried, taking control of the story once more, _"And nobody knows who the gun hit, whether it hit Meowth, or Mew, or Persian or Master Giovani – because they were all _gone_, Mew had teleported along with _all _of them!" _She completed the story and stared at Drew with huge, excited eyes. Vaporeon was looking at him like that, too.

"Oh," Drew said, "Well…I'm very impressed."

"_It was so _cool_!" _Vaporeon said.

"_And Meowth and Mew are just so cute together," _Masquerain added with a dreamy sigh.

Vaporeon gave her a sly glance and muttered something in her ear. Masquerain turned bright red and wacked her with an antenna. _"Am not!" _She hissed back to whatever Vaporeon had said.

"So nobody's seen Team Rocket, or Mew, since?" Drew asked.

"_Not a soul," _Absol said, _"Which is surprising, since I hear that usually Meowth would have come with his two human friends again by now." _

"Yeah, well, maybe they needed a break." Drew said, "I know I do."

* * *

Ash, Brock and Dawn were outside the Pokémon Center in a field, where Ash and Dawn were having a mock-contest battle between Buizel and Grotle and Mamoswine and Pahirisu. Most of the other Pokémon were cheering on the sidelines, but Pikachu was sitting forlornly against a tree a little ways away.

Down by the beach, before they had been zapped anyway, Pikachu had told Buneary his feelings. He had thought it over and realized that yes, he had just been stupid, and Buneary had always been that pretty. He had also realized that she was really nice, and brave and strong and sensitive all at the same time. He had realized that he liked her, too. So he had told her. And she had just stared at him with her mouth hanging open, and her eyes wide.

She hadn't looked like she liked him back.

And then, of course, Meowth had hit them with the gun, and there had been no more time to talk since then. Buneary had had to go back to Dawn and Pikachu had to make sure Ash was okay. He felt like a total idiot. And also extremely embarrassed. And conceited. He had been so sure that she liked him back, he had never doubted it for a second! But apparently she didn't.

Pikachu didn't notice Piplup and Buneary wander over until they were right behind him.

"_What are you doing?" _Buneary asked.

Pikachu sighed. _"Just…thinking." _

"_You think too much,"_ Piplup grumbled.

"_And you don't think enough," _Buneary informed him nastily, _"Go away." _Piplup slouched off and Pikachu smiled slightly. She was sticking up for him.

Buneary sat down beside him. _"Listen, Pikachu," _She said hesitantly, _"Um…I know you said you liked me before, but are you sure you didn't just hit your head on a rock or something?"_

Pikachu stared at her in amazement and Buneary quickly back tracked.

"_Not to be insulting or anything!" _She said hurriedly, _"It's just that, you never liked me before, and…well…it just seemed kind of sudden…"_

"_Well," _Pikachu said slowly, _"There's a first time for everything."_

Buneary gasped. _"You really like me?"_

"_Yeah," _Pikachu said miserably, _"But I understand if you don't like me." _

Buneary was silent for a minute. _"You think _I _don't like _you_?" _She said finally. Pikachu said nothing, just stared miserably at his feet. Buneary sighed. _"Pikachu, look at me."_

Pikachu pretended he hadn't heard her.

Buneary sighed again, and he felt her shift beside him. Before he knew what was happening, she had kissed him on the cheek.

Pikachu turned at stared at her. _"Buneary?"_

"_Don't you ever say, or even think for one second, that I don't like you, too."_

A/N: Hurray! Pikachu and Buneary got together finally! And now not only May getting jealous, but Drew is too. Aw! So sweet… Now, nobody freak out, because this is not the end of the story. There are still loose ends to tie up! Like, what happened to Giovani and Persian? Will Mew and Meowth be able to stay together? So, I'm writing an epilogue, and _that _will be the last chapter. Till then!


	16. Epilogue

A/N: Hey, everybody! This was quick. I was just so eager to put into words the ending that's been in my head for so long that after I posted chapter 15 (and did some school stuff), I jumped write into it! Get it? Write? I know; but crappy puns fill the world of Pokémon, so I guess it's just getting to me. Thanks to That KJ Kid; the speed with which your reviews come in never fails to amaze me! I hope you enjoy the ending! I have to say, this is my favorite chapter of all!

Drew stood a little ways outside of Azalea Town. It had been two days since he had been turned back into a human, and he had officially declared his break to be over. All that was left to do was get some supplies at the Poke Mart, and then he would be off. But first, he had to do something.

Drew had waited and hoped that now that Flygon was a Pokémon again, he would go back to normal. Unfortunately, there had been no change and Drew had been forced to admit that for Flygon this _was _normal. Now all that was left was to release him.

Drew sighed and pulled out Flygon's pokeball. Wordlessly he let the Pokémon out.

Flygon glanced around, and, realizing that there was no immediate reason for this, looked at Drew. _"Did you need me for something, Master Drew?"_

"Yes," Drew said, unable to look at his faithful Pokémon and so looking at his feet instead, "Flygon, I – I've decided to let you go. You're free. You aren't tied to me anymore."

There was a long silence in which Flygon stared at Drew and Drew continued examining his shoes.

"_You're serious?"_

"Yes," Drew said, then peaked at him hopefully through his hair, "Unless you don't want to go?"

Flygon snorted, straightened up and flapped his wings once or twice in an extremely agitated way. _"You, my master," _He said, _"Are an idiot."_ He took off. Drew watched him soar away into the sky until he disappeared. He hadn't thought Pokémon were allowed to call their masters idiots.

_You're not his master anymore_, Drew reminded himself. With heavy steps and a heavier heart, he headed into the Poke Mart. Remembering his promise, he pulled out two more pokeballs and let out Vaporeon and Masquerain.

"Now you two can wander around all you like, but don't get into trouble or you'll get me kicked out," He warned them, hoping his voice sounded natural, "Understand?"

"_Crystal clear!" _Vaporeon chirped. They scampered off to the clothing section.

Drew went to the potions and antidotes section, hoping that they really had understood him and wouldn't cause any trouble.

"Drew?"

Drew glanced up to see May waving at him.

"Hey," He said half-heartedly.

"You're still here?" She asked cheerfully, walking over to him, "I would have thought that you of all people would be gone the second you could be. I thought I saw your Vaporeon and Masquerain earlier –" She giggled, "Munchlax was making a real fool out of himself showing off for Masquerain, but I think _she_ liked it."

"Yeah, well…I decided to take a break," Drew said, shrugging. He couldn't find it in him to be sarcastic right now.

May's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you…okay?"

"Sure, fine," Drew replied, "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that –" May broke off at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Prepare for trouble!" A delicate, pretty pink-haired girl leapt into view with a theatrical flourish. She wore a black Team Rocket outfit with a short skirt.

"Make it double," A boy stepped into view to stand back to back with the girl. He had messy white-blonde hair that stuck out on the sides like ears and shrewd golden-brown eyes. He was wearing a black Team Rocket uniform underneath a long lab coat; or at least, it would have been a lab coat, except that it was black. Despite his unfamiliar appearance, his voice was very familiar.

"To protect the world from devastation!" The girl said, holding out a hand.

"To unite all peoples within our nation!" The boy said, taking it.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" They said together, taking a step forwards, "To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Kitty!" The pink-haired girl declared, throwing her arms into the air so exuberantly that the boy had to duck.

"And Meowthison!" He said, straightening up in front of her.

"Team Righteous, blast off at the speed of light!" The girl cried, side-stepping in front of him.

"Surrender now, or prepare to _fight_!" The boy jumped up beside her.

Drew and May looked at each other, then back at the pair, stunned.

"Mew, you joined Team Rocket?" May asked, dismayed.

"Weren't you listening?" Mew said, sounding annoyed, "My name is _Kitty _now. Hmph!" She crossed her arms.

"And we're not Team Rocket; we're Team _Righteous_!" Meowth added, pumping a fist in the air. "And you had better remember it!"

Drew and May exchanged another confused glance.

Mew sighed. "Team Rocket has reformed; we're Team _Righteous _now. And I'm not…" She glanced around, and then whispered conspiratorially, "_human_, technically. I'm just like this for now. Don't worry; I'll still fulfill my legendary-Pokémon duties." She winked.

"And I have been promoted," Meowth sniffed, "To Team Righteous' top scientist. Kitty here is my assistant. We're working on a motto of our own; but until we can think of one, we're just using the old Team Rocket motto."

"Oh…that's great," May said unenthusiastically, "But if you don't mind me asking, what brought about such a drastic change?"

"We-ell," Mew hopped closer, grinning, "I was in such a hurry teleporting away from there that I missed my mark by a bit; I ended up several meters away from the edge of a cliff."

"And she means several meters _off _the cliff, not _on _it," Meowth added, with a disgruntled look.

"So," Mew said, ignoring him, "Everybody except me was about to fall to their deaths, so I made a gigantic pink bubble appear underneath them to save them. The gun was still going; Giovani bounced right off the bubble, and Persian had to act the hero and try to save him, but he couldn't grab him in time. So I had to make _another _bubble underneath Giovani. And then the gun finally went and it popped the first bubble and it hit all three of them: Meowth, Giovani and Persian. So I got stuck making a _third _bubble, because people are so much bigger than Pokémon, and the second one wouldn't hold them all."

"Personally, I couldn't be happier," Meowth sniffed, "I can wear _clothes _now, and have a real job."

"And all three of them were turned into humans," Mew continued, "But the recoil on the gun blasted it backwards off the bubble, and I was all bubbled out by this time, so I let it fall." She shrugged. "It's smashed into little pieces at the bottom of the cliff now."

"So does that mean Giovani is the leader of Team…Righteous, again?" May asked. "Somehow I can't see him calling it that, or even _doing _that."

"Well," Mew got a sly grin on her face, "Giovani will pretty much do _whatever _Persian asks, these days – to a point, at least. And Persian wanted him to let all those Pokémon that they stole go, and to start giving back to society in return for being the scum of the earth for so many years. Of course, he didn't put it in exactly those words…" She snickered, "but _somehow_, he managed to convince him."

Meowth rolled his eyes. "Mew thinks Persian and Giovani are _lovers_."

"Hey, I didn't say that!" Mew protested, although her eyes were alight with mischief, "Although, _all _the evidence does seem to point to –"

"Giovani isn't gay," Meowth said, "And neither is Persian."

"Yeah, but that makes it all the more cute!" Mew said, clapping her hands together and abandoning all pretense, "They turned gay for each other! And besides," She looked at May and Drew, "Who are you going to believe? Him, or a real psychic?"

Meowth shook his head in disgust. "If you ask me, Giovani was just grateful to you for rescuing them and to the twerps for finding the gun, so he decided to give normal, law-abiding society a try. And Persian did agree with that, but he _only _asked him, and used nothing but words as persuasion. _And_," He smiled widely, "He was so impressed with me that he promoted me to head scientist. I've got a whole bunch of people working for me now. But of course, my _top _assistant is Kitty here," He glanced at her and smiled, a smile which she returned, "but I've got plenty of others, too."

"Well," May said, still slightly incredulous, "I'm glad…that you're happy."

Meowth opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment there was a loud bang, an even louder curse, and the store's manager stomped over to them, fuming.

"You two!" He bellowed at May and Drew, "Are those your Pokémon over there? The Vaporeon and Masquerain and that _Munchlax_?" He bared his teeth at the last name and May shrunk a little.

"Um, yes, the Munchlax is mine," She said, and then added hurriedly, "But the other two are his." She pulled Drew in front of her.

"Well, _your _Pokémon, young man, just knocked over the biggest wrack of clothes in the store!" The manager then whirled on May. "And _yours _just ate my biggest apple!"

Shortly afterwards, they were unceremoniously thrown from the store along with their Pokémon, an extremely indignant Meowth, and a thoroughly depressed Mew. She had been planning to buy that apple.

The manager stormed out behind them. "You are not welcome in my store again!" He bellowed, spraying spit all over them, "Those _stupid _Pokémon of yours destroyed my _best _clothes!"

Vaporeon and Masquerain flinched and hid behind Drew. Munchlax glared at the man and stepped in front of Masquerain.

"_I'll get him," _He said, but Drew got there first.

"Hey!" Drew said furiously, "You can yell at me all you want, but don't you _dare _call my Pokémon stupid!"

"I'll call anyone who ruins my stocks stupid!" The man roared, taking a step nearer to Drew, "Now get out of here or I'll –" Before the man could finish his threat, there was a rush of wind and the sound of powerful wings flapping, and Flygon landed in front of them with a menacing snarl.

"_Why don't you just back off?" _He growled, stretching his wings to their fullest.

Drew's eyes widened. "Flygon?"

The manager spluttered with rage, but he didn't dare continue yelling at Drew. He couldn't understand Flygon, of course, but the Pokémon's flared wings and tight stance got the message across well enough.

"I – I – I won't forget this!" The manager said, finally, "You'll be sor–" Flygon shot a Flamethrower at him, and he yelped and dashed back into the store.

"Flygon?" Drew said, "You…you came back?"

Flygon rolled his eyes. _"This," _He said, _"Is precisely why I called you an idiot." _And he jumped back into his pokeball.

A/N: Hurrah! The end of the story has come! Also some tears, because I was sad to stop writing this story, but I totally love it. Perhaps I'll write about Meowth and Mew (oh sorry, make that _Meowthison _and _Kitty_) and the adventures of Team Righteous next. If you'd like to know where I got the idea for Team Righteous, check out The Pokémon Chronicles episode "We're No Angels". It's really funny. Also, if anybody has any ideas for Meowth and Mew's good motto, post it, and in the sequal I'll use it. Although about the sequel, don't expect anything too soon, okay? About Giovani and Persian: take it however you want. Assume Mew is right, assume Meowth is right, or come to your own conclusion about Team _Righteous_' reform; it's up in the air. And as for Munchlax and Masquerain, yeah, I know it was pretty random, but I just felt like Masquerain wanted a boyfriend, and I've always loved Munchlax. Of the two, Vaporeon and Masquerain, Masquerain was always the sweeter and more sensitive of the two; the follower, you could say. So I just wanted her to have a relationship. I hope you liked the ending as much as I did! Goodbye! Goodbye! I'll…*sob*…miss you!


End file.
